Set the World on Fire (I'd Give My Heart)
by The Silent Scream
Summary: After a date out in town, Pat's not quite herself, but as Willow tries to figure out what is going on, neither she, nor her friends know about the true danger she's in and the life-changing events all of them are about to face. Willow/OC est. relationship, rating for violence and cursing.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Again, running out of things to say here... so to keep it simple... Enjoy :D

Disclaimer: Sadly, Buffy is not mine. Just borrowing them all for a bit :)

Set the World on Fire (I'd Give My Heart)

_My Goddess, show me sympathy  
For all the spirit's lost  
I've prayed for salvation and peace  
For ages  
Standing in the summer breeze  
Inhaling life again  
A new day has come  
A chance to relive  
Forget and forgive_

_Kamelot – My Confession_

Even as Willow stood facing the demon on the destroyed street, she had time to ask herself how it all had gone so wrong, how they had ended up in this situation; next to her, Buffy clearly had no time for such ponderings, her whole body tense as she clutched the sword she had brought, not making a move to attack yet though, merely looking at the opponent of the witch and her, any emotion she might have felt well hidden behind a stone cold poker face.

Opposite of them, a good twenty meters of distance between them, Pat let out another roar as she glared at them; and even though she wasn't in her demonic form, anything which might have been human about her was gone from her features, feral rage and hatred twisting them, her teeth bared in a vicious snarl as she raised her hands and fire burst from them in a steady, unwavering stream, forcing the two other women to get out of reach with a daring dive, both of them hitting the pavement hard enough to have the air knocked out of them.

"Hecate protect me", the witch whispered under her breath as the glowing red gaze of her lover focused on her; as if she had heard her, the demon let out yet another roar, more fire shooting from her hands a second later, hitting the shield Willow had conjured around herself and puffing away harmlessly, but still she felt as if she had taken the full force of the attack, still finding it hard to believe that her partner was so far gone that she'd attack her with the intention to not only harm her, but to kill her.

"Pat!" she called out as she came to her feet again, as she had done a dozen times since this whole mess had begun, "you don't want to do this, please! I know you're still in there somewhere, please come back to me!"

Somewhere to her left, she heard the cackle of one of those responsible for the whole situation, but she didn't bother to look there, knowing what she would see and not wanting to face it again; instead, she kept her gaze focused on her lover, forced to pour more of her magic into the shield as yet another jet of flame shot towards her.

"Please", she tried again, this time not even raising her voice anymore though, knowing her lover was too far gone to listen to her; the only response she got was another tremendous roar coming from the black haired woman, and she closed her eyes briefly as she realized how this might have to end while around them, the world was burning.

* * *

_7_

"Welcome back!" Buffy cheerfully greeted the witch and the demon as they entered the Magic Box together; she was still sweaty from her training, but didn't let that stop her from hugging at first Willow, then Pat, clearly overjoyed to see them again after their brief stay with the Pack of shapeshifters outside of Sunnydale.

"Thanks", the redhead smiled, discreetly wiping some sweat off her sleeve, "it's good to see we've been missed. And that the town is still standing."

"Yup", Buffy smiled, letting herself fall on the nearest chair and propping her feet up on the table, just in time for Giles to see and to give her a hard look, the Brit not bothering to say anything though, knowing it wouldn't lead anywhere anyway.

"You didn't miss anything", the Slayer now let her friends know while they sat down as well, to Giles' relief not putting their feet up on the table as well, "just the usual baddies. Vampires, a demon or two, kinda boring patrol. Did you have a better time?"

"Not sure if it was better", Pat gave back, smirking slightly, "but it was quite exciting. I got dropped from a bigass height by a bird, like you, only that I ended up in a pool of water, then we were almost squashed by a big rock at first, followed by a bunch of tree trunks, Willow got kidnapped by the Donnervögel creature thingies, when the Pack went to rescue her and a bunch of other girls they took, I got a ride on a big shaggy bear which was awesome, and don't look at me like that Willow because you know it was."

"No, it wasn't", the witch shook her head at once, "and don't try to argue with me about this again. I got a ride, too, so Buffy, if anyone ever offers you a ride on a big bear, say no."

"I'm… kinda overwhelmed", Buffy gave back, looking from the witch to the demon and back, "but I'm still glad you guys are back. And you sorted out the shapeshifters problems?"

"Yes", Willow nodded, smiling as she could understand how Pat's retelling of the events might be overwhelming, "there's no more war between those birds and them, they will stay away from each other, and the bear Pat mentioned before ended up with a mate."

"Good for him?" the blonde smirked, raising an eyebrow; nodding, Willow informed her about the fact that people shifting into bears were quite rare, then asked her for details about the last few days, making her shrug while she finally took her feet off the table and let them thump to the floor.

"As I said, nothing special", she then repeated her earlier statement, "just a few regular vamps, which I dusted easily, training with Giles, arguing with Dawn about college and taking her on patrol with me. That's pretty much it."

"Though I do have to say, I am glad you are back", Giles threw in, directing his comment at Pat, "because ever since Buffy started training with you, she got used to having a much more… robust training partner."

"Which is the reason why you suggested I should train with her in the first place", Pat smirked, almost reaching for her cigarettes, then remembering that she wasn't allowed to smoke in the shop, "remember? I hope she didn't rough you up too much."

"I'll live", the Watcher primly responded, making both the demon and the Slayer chuckle, "but I'd be grateful if you could take over the training sessions again."

"Sure", Pat shrugged, "you know I don't mind, and it's nice to have someone to train with who not only matches my strength, but exceeds it."

"Thank God", Giles sighed, making the taller woman chuckle slightly again; he gave her a brief smile, then let Buffy know that the training session was over for the day and that she could go home if she wanted to, making her nod enthusiastically.

"Will", she then started as she got up from her seat, "would you mind coming to the house with me? Dawn's so excited about college, she asked me to invite you over so you guys could talk about a few things, what with you going there and me not anymore."

"Sure", the redhead smiled, liking the thought of sharing some of her college experiences with Dawn, even though she knew that she wouldn't share campus for long with the younger girl, already close to finishing one of two PhDs, "if you don't mind, Sweetie?"

"Of course not", the taller woman gave back at once, not really surprising anyone in the room, all of them knowing that she most of the time was willing to do anything the redhead suggested, Buffy, Xander and Anya every now and then teasing her about how whipped she was, "while you guys talk college stuff, I'll head on home and make sure everything's in order there."

"I'll meet you at home then", Willow said, earning a nod from her partner; they shared a brief, but tender and loving kiss before they left the shop together with Buffy, parting ways outside, Buffy demanding to hear more details about the shapeshifters and their village from Willow as they walked to the Slayer's house together, the witch happily telling her, glad to be back at her hometown and with her best friend, none of them having an idea about the troubles which would await them in the coming days and weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

"So?" Pat wanted to know the moment Willow had entered the apartment and had joined her in the living room, where she was lounging on the couch, a book in her hands and a cigarette in her mouth, one of her beloved metal CDs playing in the background, "how did it go? Did you regale Dawn with tales of your college time?"

"That, and we got started on her curriculum", Willow smiled, dropping down on the couch next to her lover and prompting her to immediately put her book aside so she could wrap both arms around the smaller woman, "she'll take a few of the classes I had, and a few extra. She's quite ambitious."

"Well, she's got the brains to be", the taller woman shrugged, pulling her partner a bit closer and moving one hand to caress her hair tenderly, making her sigh at the gentle touch, "and, unlike you, she won't spend most of her free time and some school time working out how to fight out the newest Big Bad."

"Good point", Willow had to admit, stealing a brief kiss before she went on, "but you heard what Buffy said, Dawn's quite keen on helping, and I'm not surprised. The whole Slayer business is such a big part of Buffy's life, of course she wants to be in on it…"

"And by now, the 'You're too young' excuse doesn't work anymore, either", the demon observed in reply, "Buffy was much younger when she started the whole Slayer deal."

"Indeed", Willow nodded her agreement, "so sooner or later, she'll have to let her in on it. I understand why she wants to keep her away from it, but that doesn't really work out so well in the long run, sooner or later, it'll catch up to her."

"If only because someone goes after Dawn to hurt her", Pat mused, then pushed those rather serious thoughts aside and changed the topic by asking her partner for details about the younger Summers' plans for college; and immediately, Willow started giving them, rather enthusiastic, making her partner smile slightly as she listened to her excited explanations.

"If she really goes through with all the classes she chose, she'll be quite busy", the witch ended her explanation a short time later, "but I promised I'd help her to organize everything and stuff, it's not like High School anymore there, as she'll find out quite fast."

"I'm sure she'll do great", Pat smirked, reaching for her pack of cigarettes again, only to have Willow stop her from grabbing it by placing one hand on hers, prompting her to look in surprise, a smirk curling her lips yet again when she noticed the familiar expression in her lover's eyes, knowing her own gaze showed the same quite often.

"Why don't you wait a bit with that cigarette", the redhead suggested, giving her a smile which only could be called seductive, "because right now, I'd rather have your mouth do something else."

"Yeah?" the taller woman replied, feigning ignorance, "like what?"

In response, Willow briefly raised an eyebrow at her, silently telling her that she shouldn't insult the intelligence of both of them with such questions – before she leaned in and kissed her quite heatedly, all thoughts about cigarettes and smoking blown from the black haired woman's mind seconds later, her focus fully on her partner and on the intimacy they shared.

* * *

_6_

In the next morning, Willow got up quite early even though she technically didn't need to, not having any classes or dissertation meetings at college that day; still she felt refreshed and relaxed enough when she woke up to get out of bed, smiling at her slumbering and softly snoring partner before she made her way into the bathroom, going through her usual morning hygiene there.

Briefly, she paused as she glanced into the mirror and her gaze fell on the bruises the talons of the bird had left on her upper arms when he had snatched her from the ruined assembly hall and had flown off with her; they still hurt to the touch, as she had learned the previous night, and had taken on a rather unsettling, dark purple colour, the redhead telling herself that she'd better put on a shirt which hid them from view whenever she'd go outside – the last thing she needed now was that someone saw them and jumped to some crazy conclusions about her girlfriend abusing her or something equally outlandish.

The mere thought of Pat ever laying a hand on her forced her to bite back a giggle, since she knew that the demon would rather cut off her own hand before harming her; still she knew how fast rumours could form and spread, especially on campus, thus even briefly considering a spell to make the bruises vanish before she decided against it, telling herself that hiding them beneath her clothing should be enough of a precaution.

With that decision made, she now had time to focus on her morning routine, quickly going through it; and once she had gotten done with all the necessary hygiene procedures, the witch made her way into the kitchen, briefly smiling again as she passed her slumbering lover and saw that now, Pat was cuddling the pillow instead of her, the sight so cute that she almost felt tempted to take a picture.

Knowing that most likely, this would wake the demon up though, she withstood the temptation and moved on to the kitchen instead, starting with making breakfast there by preparing the coffee machine and switching it on; and just as she opened the fridge to see what she could whip up to eat, the feeling that someone was watching her hit her out of nowhere, a shiver running down her spine as her grip on the fridge's door handle tightened, her breath quickening as she remembered the last time she had felt this way, when a deranged stalker had been after her and had been threatening her and her loved ones.

It took her an unsettlingly high amount of willpower to let go of the fridge and turn around, almost expecting to see Walker stand behind her, with that creepy little smile on his face, her breath leaving her as a sigh of relief when she found herself staring at nothing but empty air.

"Must be some leftovers from the experience with that guy", she mumbled to herself as she turned towards the fridge again, the feeling that someone was watching her having vanished into nothingness again; and while she studied the fridge's content, she told herself not to be stupid, that Walker was behind bars were he belonged and that he wouldn't get out to torment Pat and her again anytime soon.

The sound of her lover's bare feet on the living room carpet distracted her from those ponderings, and she turned away from the fridge yet again just in time to see the taller woman enter, smiling at her as she wished her a good morning and earning the usual response, namely a not very articulate grunt, in reply.

"Coffee is almost done", Willow told her, knowing that said beverage would help her partner to become more articulate, "and I just was about to decide what to make us to eat. Any wishes?"

The grunt the demon let out this time sounded distinctively negative, making the redhead giggle slightly before she peered into the fridge again, settling for waffles; and while she started to make them, Pat kept staring at the coffee machine, as if she could make it work faster by just staring hard enough.

Finally though, even her sleep-befuddled brain seemed to realize that this didn't work, and she lit up a cigarette instead, her gaze moving to Willow as the redhead was standing with her back to her at the oven; she frowned slightly as she noticed the bruises on her upper arms, exposed thanks to the sleeveless shirt the witch was wearing, briefly entertaining the thought that the bird who had done this to her had been one of those she had set on fire during the final battle with them.

The sudden silence from the coffee machine distracted her from those thoughts, as it showed that the coffee had finished running through; with another grunt, she got up from her seat and helped herself to a clean mug from the cupboard, filling it up to the brim and making Willow shake her head moments later by pouring her usual amount of sugar into it, the witch even after all these years still finding it hard to believe that anyone would like their coffee so extremely sweetened.

"Plans today?" the demon asked after taking the first few sips of the hot liquid, not bothered the slightest by the fact it was still steaming, yet another advantage of her fiery nature; noting with amusement how her vocabulary had improved immensely, Willow shrugged, briefly ignoring the waffles as she helped herself to her own cup of coffee, not adding any sugar though.

"Nothing special", she then verbalized her gesture as well, focusing on their food again, "I thought that maybe, we should take easy for once, before we get back to the routine of college and patrol and training. We could have a quiet day, maybe go out for dinner?"

"Dinner sounds nice", Pat agreed after a few more gulps of coffee, fully regaining her ability to speak, "there's this new place which is supposed to be really good, not far from campus. Kinda classy, but that shouldn't be a problem, unless you wanna go casual."

"Nah, classy's fine", the redhead reassured her, a smirk curling her lips moments later, "if that means I get to look at you in a suit again. It's been way too long since I last had the chance to do that."

"Yup, that means I'll wear one", the demon chuckled, amused, "and if you want to see me in one, you just have to say so."

"Yeah, I know", the redhead smirked, finishing the waffles and placing them on the plate she had readied for just that purpose, "but it would seem weird to ask you to wear one without a fitting occasion. Also, I know you love the jeans and t-shirt look."

"Good point", the demon had to admit, making her partner's smirk widen; they smiled at each other for a few more moments, then both focused on their breakfast, already looking forward to the calm day they would spend together.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as they had planned to, the couple had a relaxing and quite calm day; Willow spent some time with working on her dissertation, then asked her partner to proof-read it, and afterwards, they just relaxed on the couch for a while, zapping through the TV channels and cuddling.

"We don't get to do this often enough", Willow told her lover once they had settled on a crime show to watch, the witch enjoying it due to the psychological profiling shown while the demon had a liking for the often rather gruesome murders, "just lying around and being lazy."

"Yeah", the taller woman nodded, moving one hand to caress her hair again, something she was quite fond of and something the witch enjoyed greatly, "usually, we're too busy saving the world and kicking ass."

"Indeed", the redhead agreed with a smile, snuggling closer to the black haired woman, "you know, I've been thinking about this… How it will work out once I get my PhDs and a job."

"Might get harder", Pat pondered out loud in reply, grasping her cigarettes and lighting one of them up before she spoke on, "you can't just take a few days off from work like you can do at college, and colleagues might start asking questions whenever you show up bruised or with a cut."

"Not only that", the redhead gave back, "but researching through the nights and running around killing baddies in the middle of the night might get harder, too. You know, just this morning I thought about how I better make sure to hide those bruises so people won't get the idea you're hitting me or anything, and now that you mentioned cuts and bruises, I'll have to take even better care about that at a possible job, where people don't know the two of us yet."

"Maybe you should go for a job where you can decide your own hours", Pat suggested in reply, "isn't that what programmers do? And psychologists? And you can do either of that, right?"

"In theory, yes", Willow replied, briefly glancing at the TV again before her gaze focused on her partner once more, "but in practice, I'll have to prove myself before I can do any of that. And entry positions hardly ever let people choose their work time…"

"Good point", the taller woman had to admit, "but on the other hand, you've had companies try to hire you back in high school already, right? They'll be lining up to hire you and you can make sure that you get the best job available."

"I'm not sure they'll line up", Willow gave back, touched by her partner's confidence about the whole topic, "but I suppose I will get an offer or two…"

"Or more", the demon shrugged, smirking when she flinched as in that exact moment, the TV showed someone bury an axe in someone else's skull with quite a bit of detail, "you really should be more self-confident about this. Trust me, I've been around for a while, I know how these things work."

"You old woman, you", Willow teased in reply, letting out a giggle at the huff which came from her partner at those words; the two smirked at each other for a moment, then another gruesome thing happened on the TV screen and the redhead flinched, burying her face in the taller woman's chest moments later.

"Hey, now", Pat commented that unexpected reaction, "what's up with you? You've seen much more gruesome things in real life."

"That I did", the witch agreed, peering at the screen again and hiding her face again moments later, her voice thus muffled as she went on, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I wish they'd focus more on all the psychology and profiling stuff."

"So you can point out what they did wrong?" the demon smirked, earning a slight giggle from her lover before she shrugged, then nodded; chuckling as well, Pat shook her head, then bent down to kiss her tenderly, her hand moving to cup her cheek, her voice down to a low rumble when she went on. "That's my smart girlfriend. I know why your brilliant mind is one of the reasons I love you so much."

"I love you, too", Willow reassured her at once, snuggling even closer to her and finally daring to look at the TV screen again, glad that for now, the gruesomeness was over, "and I love this… just spending some quiet time with you… As I said, we don't get to do this often enough."

"In the long run, that's a good thing", Pat smirked, moving her hand again so it came to a tender rest on the redhead's shoulder, holding her close, "you know I get cranky if I don't beat anything up for too long."

"Indeed", the redhead agreed with another giggle, making the taller woman's smirk widen; then, the couple shared another kiss before they focused on the TV again, enjoying the quiet time and being so close to each other for as long as it would last.

* * *

"Let's hope they didn't mess up with the reservation", Pat mumbled several hours later, tugging at the a bit too tight collar of her black button-up shirt, then at the sleeves of her suit, making the redhead smile slightly, her antics only another sign for how rarely she wore such formal clothing, "the dude said on the phone it's alright, but one never knows with such high-class restaurants."

"I'm sure it'll be fine", Willow tried to calm her down, fighting down the urge to tug at her own clothing, having to admit that she was quite unused to such formal dresses as the one she had put on for the evening as well; she knew what Pat had said between the lines, the unvoiced concerns about how such high-class restaurants often dealt with a conservative clientele and how this might affect their willingness to have an openly gay couple among their customers, the witch figuring that most people only had to look at them once to know that they were together, even if they weren't publicly displaying their affection.

Nodding, the demon gave her a brief glance and smile, squeezing her hand tenderly; smiling back at her, Willow kept holding on to her even though it might cause trouble for them once they'd reach the restaurant, both of them ignoring the way some people on the sidewalk just stared openly, by now more than used to that – after all, Pat was quite the sight even when she wasn't holding hands with her partner and wearing a suit which accented her wiry built, thanks to the two colours in her hair and the eyepatch.

"There it is", the demon now distracted her from those thoughts, gesturing at one of the signs up ahead, "now let's see how well it all worked out."

Nodding, the redhead sped up a bit as her partner did so, and a minute later, they reached the restaurant, the demon holding the door open for her partner; to his credit, the man standing at a small podium close behind said door didn't even bat an eye at their entrance, keeping his voice cool and professional when he asked them if they had a reservation.

"Yes", Pat was the one to answer that, "table for two, on Rosenberg."

Nodding, the man briefly consulted the rather impressive looking book he had on the podium in front of him, then gestured at one of the waiters hovering nearby; the man immediately made his way over to them, nodding when the other guy asked him to show the couple to their table, pointing out the reservation in his book.

"The book of power", Willow whispered to her partner as they were lead to one of the tables, in one of the more discreet booths the restaurant offered, as opposed to the tables standing in the middle of the room without anything shielding them from sight, "you're not in it, you won't sit."

Holding back a chuckle and letting out a snort instead, the taller woman nodded her agreement; if the waiter had noticed or heard anything about their conversation, he didn't let I show, waiting until they had sat down before he handed them the menus, promising he'd be back to take their drink orders in a few minutes.

"At least it all worked out fine", the redhead commented the moment the waiter was out of earshot, "and the guy with the big book didn't even raise an eyebrow at the sight of the two of us."

"Bet they pay him too much to allow him such display of emotion", Pat smirked in response, studying the menu for half a minute before she put it down, already having settled on what she wanted, the witch not surprised when she asked her what she would drink and she replied "Beer".

Smirking at how predictable her partner was whenever they went out, Willow focused on the menu again; a short while later, she had made her choice as well, settling for a dry white wine, the waiter coming over to their table again the moment she had put the menu down, as well, politely asking for their orders.

"A good choice", he complimented Willow after she had told him, "the house recommends a light fish course with this certain wine, or, if you'd prefer, our chicken breast filet."

"He didn't compliment me on my choice of drink", Pat complained, not fully serious, after the man had rattled off the rest of the recommendations, making the redhead smile at her across the table, a hint of mischief in her voice when she replied, her words prompting the taller woman to raise an eyebrow. "That's because they probably just offer beer so the husbands won't complain when the wives drag them here on their anniversary, and they'd rather not."

"That makes it sound as if beer is inferior", the black haired woman protested, earning another giggle from her partner, "when it is clearly not."

"To some people, it is", the redhead shrugged, "and apparently, the waiter is one of them."

"Hmph", Pat let out in reply, making the witch giggle yet again; finally unable to hold back her own smirk, the demon let it curl her lips, then briefly excused herself, explaining that she had to use the restroom and that she'd hurry, making Willow nod before she picked up the menu again, focusing on what she wanted to eat, a small smile on her face as she thought of the playful banter and of how much she enjoyed being with the taller woman.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gosh, I'm stuffed", Willow sighed out almost two hours later, as they left the restaurant together, the taller woman immediately lighting up a cigarette the very moment they had stepped through the door, "but this was so good. Thanks so much for taking me here."

"My pleasure", Pat reassured her after taking a long drag of her smoke, "and you're right, it was really good. Very filling, too, though, so why don't we walk home?"

"Sure", Willow agreed after a moment, finding this a tiny bit odd – after all, they had walked to the restaurant as well, since it wasn't that far from their home anyway, and usually walked whenever they had an errand to make, hardly ever using public transport and only calling a cab in case of emergency; then, she shrugged it off and smiled up at her partner, the black haired woman immediately smiling back at her, then stopping so she could kiss her briefly, clearly not caring what any of the people out and about might think.

"I really shouldn't have eaten that dessert", she sighed out after they had pulled apart again and had resumed walking, now holding hands again, "but it was so tempting. They should be ashamed."

"Indeed", Pat chuckled, "good thing we don't do that too often, or I might get all out of shape. Would be hard to kick butt then."

"I doubt you'd get out of shape so fast", Willow smirked, making the taller woman grin slightly as well, "seeing how often you train and work out with Buffy. Not to mention all the patrols. Talking of kicking butt though…"

As she said the last few words, she lowered her voice so no one around them would hear, simultaneously gesturing at a man walking a few steps ahead of them; his outdated clothing and the way he glanced at practically everyone he passed made it more than obvious that he wasn't entirely human, especially to someone who'd had as much training in picking vampires out of a crowd as the witch and the demon.

"Good point", Pat agreed, her gaze now focused on the vampire, who either didn't notice that she was staring at him or didn't care, "we better follow this guy and make sure he doesn't try to snack on anyone. Won't hurt to have a little workout after this rich meal."

Nodding her agreement, Willow made sure to keep the vampire in her line of sight, without staring at him so hard that he might notice them; clearly, he was too focused on his upcoming dinner though, not even glancing into their direction as he finally picked out his victim, a young woman walking alone, even licking his lips as he started moving closer to her.

"Let's hope she'll move into some little side alley quickly", Pat grumbled next to her under her breath, making her glance up at her, "I really don't feel like tailing them forever now."

As if the woman had heard them, she stepped off the rather well used main street and into one of the smaller alleys, the vampire right behind her; with a slightly malicious smirk curling her lips, Pat sped up her steps, prompting Willow to do the same, the couple entering the alley as well half a minute later, just in time to hear the woman's startled cry – before the vampire had her mouth covered and pulled her against himself, his face changing as his demonic nature took over, a low growl coming from him as he bared his teeth, ready to sink them into the woman's neck.

"Hey!" Pat snapped before he had the chance to do so though, prompting him to look up with a hiss of annoyance, "get away from her, thug!"

Raising an eyebrow at her, Willow had a moment to ask herself if she ever had heard the taller woman call a vampire "thug" before – she had witnessed her referring to them as "bumpface" and "fangy", but "thug" was new, but at least, it did the job, the vampire letting go of the woman and snarling at them while his victim took the chance given and ran off as fast as her high heels let her.

"How dare you", the vampire complained, looking after her longingly for a moment before he focused on the two women again, "but, well, fine, I'll just eat you then!"

"You're welcome to try", the demon gave back, already clenching her fists; snarling again, the vampire advanced, prompting Willow to move back so she wouldn't end up in the proverbial line of fire, momentarily almost feeling sorry for the vampire as she knew that he didn't stand a chance – not alone against a centuries old demon with fighting experience and one of the most powerful witches on the planet as backup.

_Even if he'd had some of cronies, this wouldn't end well for them, _she thought to herself as she watched how her partner effortlessly sidestepped his rather clumsy lunge, then grabbed the back of his jacket and used his own momentum to send him crashing against the nearest wall head first, _he really should have ran like that girl did._

Unable to hold back a smirk at the skills of her partner, she watched how the demon moved up to the vampire, kicking him in the ribs before he had a chance to come back to his feet, hard enough to at first lift him on the ground, then throw him on his back; since he laid with his chest exposed now, groaning in pain, Willow expected the taller woman to go for the staking now, but instead, she grabbed the vampire at the front of his shirt and jerked him to his feet again, ramming him against the wall hard enough to make his teeth rattle.

"This is not your town anymore", she snarled at him, the smile slowly fading from Willow's face as her partner punched the vampire a few times, making him groan in pain, "this is our place now. Tell that to your brethren and get the Hell out of here."

And then, to Willow's endless shock and dismay, she let him go, pushing him once more to get him moving; he glanced at her for a final time, some unreadable emotion in his bumpy face, then turned and hurried off, soon scurrying around the corner and vanishing from sight.

"Pat!" the witch cried out, getting over her shock and staring at her partner with wide eyes, "why did you let him go?!"

"He won't harm anyone tonight", the demon shrugged, only startling her lover further with this lack of care, "and he'll tell his… buddies that this town is not theirs anymore."

"Well, that doesn't really work", Willow pointed out, momentarily wondering why the taller woman had referred to said vampire's buddies as "brethren" minutes ago, yet another word she never had heard her use before, "I mean, Buffy's been here for years, and we've been helping her, and that didn't chase them away. You should have staked him."

"If he decides to make trouble again, I'll do just that", the black haired woman shrugged, then grasped her hand again, a smile curling her lips when she asked her if she wanted to head home now, the redhead nodding her agreement after a moment, thoughtfully studying her lover as they got moving again, asking herself what was going on and what had caused this strange behaviour towards the vampire.

* * *

_5_

In the next morning, Willow again was the first one to wake up, the demon still slumbering soundly next to her; she took a few moments to study her, smiling slightly to herself, by now not putting much weight onto the incident with the vampire anymore – once they had arrived t their home, Pat had acted just the way she always had, not using any strange outdated language anymore, either, and even though part of the redhead wondered if she wasn't dropping this strange behaviour as irrelevant too fast, she didn't ponder it further, her mind on the day's schedule as she made her way to the bathroom for her morning routine and then moved on to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Just as Giles had suggested, a training session had been scheduled for Buffy and Pat, the taller woman thanks to her robustness much better suited to withstand the Slayer in training than her Watcher; afterwards, they didn't really have any plans, the witch figuring though that her lover would go on patrol with the blonde in the evening, and perhaps would end up helping out at the Magic Box yet again after training, Anya taking advantage of her presence there whenever possible to have her haul around the heavy boxes she couldn't move on her own.

Holding back a giggle, the redhead thought of how Pat often complained about being exploited for her strength, even though she never really meant it, helping the ex-demon out willingly for the discount it would earn the couple, something they made ample use of whenever Willow had to buy new ingredients for her spell; watching the demon haggle with the brunette about the height of said discount was always an amusing event, something the witch looked forward to as she prepared breakfast, one of the few more or less normal things in their lives they could enjoy together, apart from fighting off supernatural threats and stopping the end of the world again and again.

The sounds coming from the bedroom distracted her from those thoughts, and she frowned to herself as for a few moments, she could hear the low rumble of her partner's voice, making her wonder if the demon was talking to herself now since no one else was around; then, it stopped, and half a minute later, Pat joined her in the kitchen, rubbing her good eye as she plopped down on the nearest chair.

"Morning", she grunted, already showing more ability to talk than she usually did; smiling, Willow wished her the same, then let her know that coffee was almost done, earning a grunt and a nod in reply, her smirk widening slightly while she focused on the food she was preparing again, hearing how behind her, the demon fumbled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it up, coughing slightly afterwards.

"Did you sleep well?" Willow asked while she finished preparing breakfast, ham and eggs this time, and disturbed it evenly on two plates, adding a slice of bread to each before she put them on down on the table, doing so just as the coffee got done; and immediately, Pat got up from her seat and made her way to the coffee machine, surprising the redhead again by filling a cup with the black liquid – and then drinking it straight the way it was, without adding her usual masses of sugar.

Deciding not to comment on it, the redhead filed it away as yet another one of the strange events, not sure what to think of them for a moment – after all, her partner was behaving rather odd ever since the visit to the restaurant, and for a second, she even asked herself if perhaps, something had been in the food, then told herself not to be paranoid now, that surely, there was a reason for this, perhaps even one as simple as the demon having an eye on her weight, something which didn't seem too unreasonable after the comment she had made the previous evening.

"You know", she started while Pat sat down again and started to shovel food into her mouth, as always not caring how hot it still was, "if you don't mind, I'd like to come along to the Magic Box today and watch Buffy and you train, it's been too long since I did that."

"Sure", Pat shrugged, briefly pausing her rather hasty consumption of the ham and eggs so she could answer without having her mouth full, "why not. Just make sure you don't get in the way, I don't want you hurt."

The last few words were added as if they had been an afterthought, something Willow noticed along with the lack of sugar in her lover's coffee, but didn't comment on either; she just nodded and smiled, the taller woman smiling back at her after a second, silence filling the kitchen afterwards as they both focused on eating, the demon never noticing the thoughtful looks the witch was giving her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright", Buffy stated several hours later, stretching to warm up her muscles, "I hope you're not expecting me to hold back too much, because after training with Giles, I really need to get rid of some excessive energy."

"Don't hold back", Pat smirked in response, taking off her jacket and rolling up the sleeves of the button-up shirt she was wearing beneath, then stretching as well, "I can take anything you can throw at me."

"Good", the Slayer gave back – and then, without another word or a sign of warning, she launched herself forward, simultaneously pulling back her fist, only for the punch to hit nothing but empty air as the demon ducked out of the way, then swiped her feet out from underneath her with a powerful kick, causing her to huff as she fell down onto the training matt, still hard enough to have the air knocked out of her.

Not letting this stop her though, she came to her feet again with a rather daring jump, just in time to block the kick Pat was aiming at her; she had a second to wonder if the taller woman really just had tried to kick her while she had been down, something which always had been a big no-no during their sparring sessions, then pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she focused on the fight again, blocking another kick and grasping the taller woman's ankle simultaneously, using the grip she had on her to throw her off balance and on her back.

Just like Buffy had moments ago, Pat came to her feet again quickly as well, trying a punch this time since her kicks hadn't brought much success so far; ducking beneath the hit, the Slayer moved forward the blink of an eye later, a wince escaping Willow when she watched the blonde hammer her fist into her partner's rib cage, hard enough to make her grunt, but not with enough force to throw her down, a startled yelp escaping her when, instead of moving back as she had expected her to, Pat reached down instead and grabbed her, her grip so tight that it momentarily hurt – before Buffy found herself flying through the air as the taller woman threw her, the breath knocked out of her once more when she slammed down onto the ground.

Gritting her teeth, she just started to get up again as the black haired woman advanced once more – and then her fist flew towards the blonde's face, the crack with which her nose broke beneath it sounding awfully loud inside her own head, her cry of pain strangely nasal while she fell back down again, yelping once more when immediately, the demon kicked her, making it obvious that she indeed was willing to do just that to her when she had been downed.

"Pat!" Willow snapped just as her partner pulled her leg back for yet another kick, "what do you think you're doing?! Stop it!"

To her relief, the taller woman at least listened to her, taking a step back instead of kicking her friend; glaring at her, finding it hard to believe that she really had taken the sparring so far, Willow rushed past her and to Buffy's side, helping her to sit up and taking a closer look at her nose, relieved to see that, even though it had been broken, the damage wasn't too big.

"Sorry bout that", she heard the demon mutter behind her, not turning to look at her though, still angry for what she had done, "I thought she'd duck or something. I guess I got kinda carried away."

"It's okay", Buffy grunted, coming to her feet with the help of her best friend, still feeling a bit dazed, "I did give you a bloody nose too once during training, remember? I'll just consider this a long overdue payback."

"Fine with me", the demon smirked, then grew serious again as Willow glared at her once more, the witch still sounding angry when she spoke up again. "That doesn't excuse kicking her when she was already down. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know, okay?" Pat sighed, raising both hands in a hopefully calming gesture, "as I said, I just got carried away a bit. It won't happen again. Hey Buffy, you can borrow my healing if you like, then your nose will be fine again."

"Nah, I'll live", Buffy shrugged it off, smiling at the taller woman to show that there were no hard feelings, "it'd be a waste of ingredients and energy to do the spell for something like this. With Slayer healing, it should be fine again in a few days anyway."

"Suit yourself", the taller woman gave back with a shrug of her own, "and again, my apologies. Now, if you'll excuse me, my nicotine levels are dangerously low."

"Enjoy", Buffy gave back, then glanced at her best friend while the demon took her leave, not happy to see that Willow still looked upset, thus forcing herself to smile, even though her face still felt as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer, unmistakable proof for the strength the demon possessed.

"Hey, calm down", she told the witch, stepping closer to her and placing one hand on her arm, "she just got a bit too enthusiastic. It happens."

"Not to her, usually", Willow gave back, making sure the taller woman was out of earshot before she went on, "especially not after she had more than enough chances to beat up things."

"As I said, I did the same to her once, without the breaking though", Buffy reminded her of an unfortunate sparring incident which had happened a few years ago, "and let's not forget that she is a demon, we all know they do tend to overdo things sometimes. She just let her control slip for a moment."

"Yeah, probably", Willow sighed after pondering this for a few seconds, "I suppose you're right. Still, kicking you while you were down…"

"That's what vampires do", Buffy shrugged, "and now let's go and pester Anya about some of those drinks she has behind the counter, I need something to wash the taste of blood out of my mouth."

Nodding, Willow gave her a smile, then left the room with her; she briefly glanced at her lover through the glass door, the taller woman not noticing though as she was holding her phone in one hand and focused on the screen, once again missing the thoughtful glance her partner was giving her.

* * *

After they had made sure that Buffy indeed was fine, that Pat would go on patrol with her that night and that Anya had no work for the demon to do, the couple left the Magic Box again, heading back to their home; by now, Willow had managed to push the sparring incident from her mind, even though it kept wanting to surface again and again, forcing her to ignore it with a conscious effort of will, the redhead telling herself that surely, it just had been an accident and that it didn't mean anything.

"Hey", Pat now spoke up next to her, distracting her from her thoughts, "how 'bout we get some coffee? It's been quite a while since we've been to the Espresso Pump. Bet they miss us there."

"Probably", Willow agreed, having to smile despite the dark thoughts troubling her, "and sure, why not? We pass it on the way home anyway."

Nodding, the taller woman dug out her cigarettes again, lighting one of them up; and just like she had in the morning, she let out a cough after the first drag, prompting the witch to raise an eyebrow at her, unable to hold back the question she asked seconds later. "Since when do you cough when you smoke? I thought demons don't get smoker's cough."

"Must be cause I didn't smoke much when we were with the Pack", Pat gave back at once, an explanation which sounded reasonable enough; and before Willow could ponder it further or ask her any more questions, she went on, changing the topic swiftly, but definitely, by asking a question of her own, inquiring if Willow would come along on patrol or if she'd stay home.

"Stay home", the redhead gave back at once, "I'd love to come along, but I got class early in the morning tomorrow, and I'd hate to oversleep and miss it."

"Sure", the taller woman nodded, apparently understanding her concerns, "that wouldn't do, what with you being so close to finishing your PhDs and everything."

"Indeed", the witch had to agree, making her partner smile again; then, she ditched her cigarette, even though it only had been half-smoked, and grasped Willow's hand instead, a well-known lusty glint in her good eye as she spoke up again, her words making the smaller woman's smile widen.

"Well, you know", the demon rumbled, keeping her voice low so no one around would hear them, "just in case you're still awake when I get back and need help falling asleep, I think I might have an idea or two on how to be of assistance."

"Oh, do you", Willow gave back, feigning innocence and giggling when immediately, Pat nodded quite enthusiastically; then, they reached the Espresso Pump, and she gave the taller woman a look which told her to clear her mind and her words, not noticing the brief expression of confusion on the demon's face in reply, just showing for the blink of an eye before the smirk returned as they entered the café together.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: So, I completely forgot I'll be going on a concert tomorrow and so won't be home to update. So, here we go a day early! ;) Since I won't be home Thursday evening, either, the next one will be posted on Wednesday.

* * *

Quite some time later, Willow was alone in the apartment, the demon having left to go on patrol with Buffy; and since she had been planning to make good use of the quiet time this would grant her, she was sitting in front of her laptop, her fingers resting on the keyboard, unmoving though as she just looked at her dissertation and hadn't written a word during the last fifteen minutes.

Even though she had tried hard to ignore it, she found herself wondering again and again about the strange new traits her lover displayed; in all the years they had been together, she only had heard her cough when lighting up a smoke once, shortly after the dark magic within her had taken much of her strength, and she never had seen her drink her coffee without copious amounts of sugar.

Again, her thoughts returned to the incident at sparring, to the image of her lover pulling back her leg to kick an already downed Buffy; now that she had time to ponder it, she thought of the look she had seen on her partner's face then, an expression so brief that she wasn't even sure anymore if she really had seen it or had added it to her mental image right now, due to her worries about the new behaviour of the taller woman – a look of malicious glee, one Pat normally only showed when she was about to go and kick some serious ass of some major baddie.

"Something's just off", she mumbled to herself, not even fully noticing that she had been talking out loud; it was as if something subtle, but definitive had changed about her lover, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but became more and more convinced about the longer she thought about it.

If they had lived anywhere else, or perhaps just had been different persons, the witch might not have read so much into all of this; since they were living in Sunnydale though, and she knew from personal experience how fast various kinds of possession could occur, she didn't take her own worries lightly, a small sigh escaping her as she finally gave up on writing any more and leaned back into the couch, glancing up at the ceiling as her mind kept running wild with all sorts of unpleasant scenarios.

_There has to be some spell to find out, _she thought to herself, frowning slightly as she tried to remember which spells and potions Giles had used when she'd had the strange alien creature inside her and it had been changing her, _something I can do to find out if she's possessed or something… _

Figuring that she wouldn't do any more for her dissertation anyway, she saved the document, despite not having made any changes at all, then shut down the computer and made her way to the shelf where she kept her spellbooks; a quick look at their backs told her in which one she was most likely to find the information she wanted, and she reached for it with the intention to pull it out, only to freeze the moment her fingers touched the leather, her eyes widening as a sudden cold shiver ran down her back, feeling as if ice cold fingers had traced the length of her spine.

_(care)_

She flinched as she heard the voice, not from somewhere around her or some spot of the apartment, but from right within her, as if the owner had spoken from deep within her mind; it had only been a single word, a harmless enough one at that, but it still filled her with a diffuse dread, the feeling that something was definitely off about Pat increasing a hundredfold the blink of an eye later.

Standing as stiff and still as a statue, she waited to see if it would happen again; neither the feeling of cold, nor the strange voice came up again though, not even when she touched the book again and finally did pull it out, only to nearly drop it after all when her phone vibrated in her pocket, startling her.

Carefully, aware of the fact that it was rather old and the paper had gotten brittle, Willow put the book back on the shelf before she got out her phone and looked at the display, her heart speeding up even further when she saw that Buffy was calling her, the feeling of dread increasing and growing until it nearly suffocated her; still she made herself push the button which took the call, her hand and voice trembling in strange unison when she brought the phone to her ear and said "Yes?"

"I don't have much time, so just listen", Buffy gave back, her business-like tone making it obvious that this wasn't a social call, "Pat's on her way back to you, and you need to be careful. I'm not sure what it is or what happened, but she's not really herself."

Since Buffy had told her to just listen, Willow didn't reply anything, but just waited for her to go on, not sure if she had been able to talk, had she tried – her throat felt too tight and too dry, as if someone had strangled her and only had stopped moments ago, even making it hard for her breathe, let alone speak.

"She got hit in the face during patrol", the Slayer went on at last, "and I'm quite sure she thinks I didn't notice, I was fighting a vampire too at that moment, but after she'd dusted the guy, she got the strangest look on her face for a second, as if she was concentrating really hard, and then the cut just closed, within seconds. And she was not in her demon form. So unless this is some new ability you guys didn't tell me about…"

"No", Willow replied tonelessly, her worst fears confirmed within not even a minute, "it's not."

"She should be back any minute now", Buffy let her know, concern in her voice now, "so take care, alright? If she's… I don't know, possessed or whatever, she might try to do something to you."

"I know", the witch gave back, swallowing heavily, "in case she does try to do something to me, I'll… just bind her with the spell and call you. Thanks for warning me."

"You're welcome", the blonde gave back, now sounding much warmer, "and try not to worry too much, alright? Whatever it is, it'll be okay."

"Thanks", Willow gave back, then ended the call without another word and moved back to the couch, feeling strangely detached and numb as she sat down and started waiting for her partner to return, now not able to think of anything else than what was going on and what might have happened to her lover.

* * *

_4_

When Willow awoke with a start, she was at first mildly surprised to find herself on the couch still, asking herself when she had fallen asleep; thanks to the daylight she could see through the windows, she figured that she had spent the whole night on the couch, briefly asking herself if Pat hadn't come home at all the night before, despite Buffy telling her that she was on her way back, or if she just hadn't woken her up, but had let her slumber on the couch, just yet another sign that something was clearly wrong.

Trying to ignore the dull ache in her lower back, the witch got up from the couch and stretched, grimacing as the motion made her spine crack audibly; she took a few moments to run both hands through her hair and to put on a calm façade, not wanting the demon to notice that she was aware of the fact that something was amiss, then made her way into the bedroom, finding the taller woman fast asleep there, by now not even surprised anymore that her partner wasn't snoring loudly, the suspicious silence from her being one more point she could add to the list.

"Pat", she said after a moment of just studying her, trying to figure out what had happened and if this person even was her lover, "wake up."

In response, the demon let out a low grunt, rolling over once so she ended up flat on her back, then opened her good eye, blinking at her sleepily; this looked so much like her usual behaviour in the morning that for a moment, the redhead almost faltered and pushed all thoughts about how something was wrong aside, then she forced herself to remember what Buffy had told her and focused again, giving her best to sound normal when she spoke on.

"Sorry to wake you up, but I need your help for a spell", she explained, saying the first thing which came to her mind, "I need you to burn some herbs for me."

"Can't you use a lighter?" the demon grumbled in reply, her ability to speak after just waking up and the fact that she wasn't immediately getting out of bed convincing Willow even further that something was dreadfully wrong; still, she didn't let it show, keeping her face and voice calm and neutral when she replied. "That doesn't work, as you know. Remember that one time when we tried to stop that priest and used a lighter? That spell didn't work and you lost your eye when it backfired."

"…oh, right", Pat gave back after a moment of pause, just long enough to let Willow notice; and even though rage flared up within her, she forced herself to remain calm, waiting until the black haired woman had gotten out of bed – before she brought up her hand and, in one smooth movement, unleashed the spell she had prepared while she had been speaking, a surprised yelp coming from the demon when the wallpaper behind her came to life and wrapped around her arms and legs, jerking her backwards and binding her firmly against the wall.

"That's not how she lost her eye", Willow coldly told the stranger who looked exactly like her partner, keeping a safe distance despite the binding spell, not sure how long it would hold – technically, it couldn't be broken with physical force, but if whoever had taken on her lover's form knew how to do magic, they might be able to break the spell, and she didn't want to be within grabbing distance when this happened. "Who are you, and where is my girlfriend?!"

For a few more moments, the stranger just kept looking back at her, appearing confused and shocked, just long enough to make her wonder if maybe, she hadn't made a mistake; and then, just as she seriously started to doubt herself, the expression on the taller woman's face suddenly changed, becoming malicious and slightly gleeful, a look she never had seen on Pat's face before.

"Well, well, well", the demon then said, smirking slightly, "you figured it out. I have to say, I'm impressed. Thought it would take you much longer."

"Answer my questions", Willow demanded coldly, "who are you, and where's Pat?"

"Sorry, can't tell you that", the stranger wearing her loved one's face replied, the smirk widening slightly, "but don't worry. We're taking good care of her."

And then, before she could demand answers once more or say anything else, the woman's flesh started to move and ripple, a startled gasp coming from the witch at the sight; she automatically took a step back, earning another smirk from the stranger while her face appeared to melt, the features running apart like a candle left out in the sun, reforming moments later to a face the redhead never had seen before, along with the rest of her body, her whole built becoming smaller and slimmer, making it easy for her to slip out of the bonds the witch had put on her.

"Surprised, are you", the woman observed, smiling, "so you don't know everything yet, smart as you may be."

Her eyes narrowed briefly, and before Willow had a chance to realize what was going on, she found herself unable to move, her eyes widening as she realized that she had been hit with a binding spell, the magic wrapped around her from throat to toe now, a clumsy and brutal spell, the magical equivalent to punching someone in the jaw, but still effective enough.

"No worries", the stranger went on, casually shrugging out of Pat's pyjama top and letting it drop to the floor, "the spell won't hold you for long. Just until I'm safely out of reach. I'll tell your demon lover you said hi."

"Stop!" Willow snapped, struggling against the spell, to no avail though; it might have been clumsy magic, without much finesse or skill, but it was doing its job, keeping her firmly in place while the stranger strolled past her, smiling at her and giving a sardonic little wave.

"Maybe another time", she then said, briefly glancing over her shoulder to look at the captured redhead, "now, I have to get back home. They'll be angry that I blew my cover so fast, but in the long run, it doesn't really matter."

And with those words, she stepped out of the bedroom, the door slamming close behind her; half a minute later, the sound of the apartment door closing followed, and shortly after that, the spell puffed away into nothingness, causing the witch to stumble – before she rushed to the phone, knowing that she had to tell Buffy about all of this as fast as possible.


	7. Chapter 7

"So this person changed her whole appearance and build after you revealed that you knew she's not Pat", Giles recapped half an hour later, in the witch's home, having met there with Buffy and the redhead after Willow had told the Slayer what had happened, "and then used magic to keep you bound, but didn't make any tries to harm or kill you?"

"No", Willow confirmed, giving her best to remain calm – the last thing she wanted to do now was discuss this any more than necessary, eager to perform the locator spell so she would know where her partner was and could go there and get her out, "she just said something about how it didn't matter that I figured out she isn't Pat so fast, and that 'they' would be angry with her, and then she left."

"Wonder who they are", Buffy pondered out loud, "but I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Willow, you ready to do the spell?"

"Yes", Willow gave back at once, already having readied all the ingredients she'd need for the locator spell in one of the wooden bowls she preferably used for her magic, along with a map of Sunnydale, "I'm all set. Are you ready with the matches?"

In response, the Slayer held said item up and nodded; Willow took in a deep breath, then asked the Brit and her best friend to be quiet before she concentrated, mumbling under her breath as she started the spell, giving Buffy the signal just as she said the last few words, the blonde reacting by lighting up one of the matches and tossing it into the bowl.

As always when she used that particular spell, the ingredients vanished into a cloud of white smoke with an audible _pouf; _the smoke drifted through the room for half a minute, then dissolved, none of the three noticing though as they all were focusing on the map, waiting for the little light to appear which would tell them where the demon was.

"There!" Buffy finally cried out, just when Willow had started to worry and ask herself if maybe, she had done something wrong, "look!" She gestured at the map, at the small, flickering light, the location making the blonde frown after a moment.

"That's Angel's old mansion", she then added, looking up and at her best friend, "and why is it flickering like that? Shouldn't it be all glowy?"

"Yes", Willow confirmed, glad that they knew the location the spell was pointing out to them, since the light looked as if it might vanish any moment, "maybe someone tries to block it, so we can't find her, but then they aren't doing a very good job of it."

"You should end the spell anyway", Giles suggested, giving her a worried glance, "because if someone tries to block it, they might notice you and take countermeasures."

Nodding, Willow did what the Brit had said, bringing up her hand to perform the gesture which would end the spell; before she could do so though, the shiver she had felt the night before ran down her spine again, her eyes widening as her body stiffened, the voice she had heard the previous night coming up again, once more right inside her mind, not bothering to speak to her the conventional way.

_You've seen through the deception, _the voice told her, only confirming what she already knew, _but there is still great danger for all of you. Once you go there, do not split up, under no circumstances._

"Who are you?" Willow asked out loud, not even noticing how Giles and Buffy gave her funny looks, clearly having no idea who she was talking to; to her dismay, the voice didn't respond, and the coldness vanished again, making it obvious to her that the owner of said voice, whoever it had been, was gone yet again.

"…whom do you mean?" Buffy was the one to ask out loud what both Giles and she were thinking; only now, Willow realized that she had been talking out loud, quickly explaining what had happened, prompting the Watcher to take off his glasses and start cleaning them as he gave her a worried look.

"You do know that whoever spoke to you might have malevolent intentions, do you?" he then asked her, forcing Buffy to hold back a smile when a huff came from the witch, the redhead clearly not pleased about the question.

"Of course", she let the Watcher know, sounding quite indignant as well, "but what this voice told me was quite helpful advice. We don't know anything about this woman, and if she has the ability to look exactly like Pat, down to the scarring beneath the eyepatch, who knows what else she can do. Not splitting up does sound like good advice, don't you agree?"

"Anyone who ever watched a horror movie knows that", Buffy threw in while Giles nodded, putting his glasses back on afterwards, still sounding concerned when he replied. "Yes, of course it does, but perhaps we should treat this mysterious voice with suspicion, as well."

"It doesn't really matter now, does it", Buffy shrugged before the witch had a chance to answer, "as Willow said, the advice to stick together is one we should keep in mind, and whenever it decides to make another appearance and tell Willow something, we can decide if we should listen or ignore it. For now, we should focus on getting Pat out of there, I have the feeling they are probably not holding a tea party with her in the mansion."

"Probably not", the witch agreed, briefly shuddering again as a myriad of horrible possibilities ran through her mind; noticing her dismay, Buffy momentarily placed a calming hand on her shoulder, then cleared her throat, growing serious again as she went into Slayer mode.

"Alright", she started, glancing at the map again, "I still got the layout of the mansion memorized pretty well, but we can't just barge in as long as we don't know whom we are dealing with and how many there are. So I suggest we try to find that out first before we go any farther."

"Surveillance first", Giles nodded his agreement, and even though Willow didn't like the thought of leaving her partner in there longer than necessary, she also knew that just storming the mansion without a plan and knowledge of the odds was akin to suicide and thus, not an option, those thoughts prompting her to agree as well a moment later.

"We'll take your car after dark, Giles", the blonde went on, "and stop here", with those words, she pointed out a spot on the map, two blocks away from the mansion, "in case they have someone on the lookout or something. If not, we'll move up to the mansion, if they didn't change anything, there's not much illumination outside to give us away, and try to figure out how many there are."

The thought of not doing anything until after dark was even less appealing than the general idea of making her partner wait until they'd come to her rescue; still Willow agreed though, figuring that it was making sense to use the cover of darkness and that walking up to the mansion in bright daylight wouldn't work out all too well, no matter how many of their still unknown foes they might have to face there.

"Alright", Buffy nodded, glad that both the Watcher and the witch had agreed, "we should use the time until then well, Willow, is there some sort of spell you can use to give us extra protection?"

"I can look it up", the witch nodded, glad that she would have something to do during the wait for night to fall, "I believe there's a camouflage spell in one of the books at the Magic Box, one of the older ones. Druidic origin, if I remember correctly…"

"I'll go to the Magic Box with you", Giles offered at once, "and help with the search. Buffy, you should get some rest during the day, even with a camouflage spell to cloak you, you might be spotted, we don't know yet if these… people have the ability to see through such spells."

Nodding, Buffy gave her best friend another calming look; then, the Watcher suggested that they best got moving and start the research, earning yet another nod from the witch – before they all got up from the couch and left the apartment, eager to get started so they could free their friend and the redhead's lover as fast as possible.

* * *

The car sounded awfully loud as Giles drove to the spot they had chosen, two blocks away from Angel's former mansion; when he finally parked and killed the engine, Willow was glad about the silence, even though it didn't last long, since Buffy almost immediately turned to her and asked her if she was ready for the spell.

"Yes", the redhead confirmed, then asked the blonde to give her her hands; and once Buffy had done that, the witch briefly closed her eyes to focus, then let out a slow breath as she looked at her best friend again, her voice barely audible as she started mumbling the spell.

"Hecate, give her protection", she muttered, having adapted the druidic spell so it'd be more fitting for her as a Wicca, hoping that the Goddess would be listening and that it would work anyway, "cloak her from the sight of our enemies, shield her from their magic…"

Curious if she would feel anything, Buffy tensed as Willow fell silent; and moments later, she nearly squealed as her whole body tingled strangely, the way the witch's eyes lit up showing her that the spell obviously had worked.

"It's working", the redhead now confirmed this assumption verbally as well, smiling, "you're not fully invisible, but with the cover of the night, it will do."

"Great", Buffy smirked, "so I'll get moving then. I'll try to hurry, alright?"

Nodding, Willow held back the urge to ask her to come along once more; they had been discussing this at length during the drive, and finally the witch had been forced to admit that it wouldn't make much sense to put a camouflage spell on Buffy and then walk along next to her without the same spell to protect her, dismay briefly filling her again as she thought of the fact that she hadn't found a reliable way to put the spell on herself, as well.

"It'll be okay", Buffy reassured her once more, as if she had read her mind; the witch nodded once more, then watched how the Slayer got out of the car and started walking, a small sigh escaping her as she leaned back into the seat, her gaze only moving from Buffy's form when Giles spoke up in the driver's seat.

"How long did you say this spell holds up?" he wanted to know, Willow immediately seeing through his intentions – he knew perfectly well how long the spell would work, and just wanted to take her mind off the waiting and off her partner, the so far unknown fate of the demon weighing heavily on her mind.

"About an hour", she answered him anyway, grateful for his tries to keep her mind occupied and thus away from any dark thoughts, "and it'll work best if she doesn't move much. With the dark and the lack of illumination though, she should be fine."

"And if not, she knows how to hold her own in a fight", Giles pointed out, "so even if the spell should fail, which I doubt, we don't need to worry."

"I guess that depends on how strong these… people are", Willow gave back, "I mean, we know nothing about them… I'm still worried about how well this woman managed to look like Pat. I mean, when she took off the eyepatch before going to sleep, even the scarring was correct. Maybe not down to the last tiny detail, but good enough to make sure I wouldn't notice."

"Remarkable indeed", the Brit had to agree, "but perhaps quite easily explained once Buffy found out some details about them. Let's hope she'll spot something useful."

"Yes", Willow nodded, then looked out the car window again, even though she knew that surely, the blonde wouldn't be coming back already; in the front seat, Giles leaned back and got comfortable as well, silence filling the car as they both waited for Buffy to come back and tell them what she had found out.


	8. Chapter 8

It took almost forty minutes until, finally, the blonde's silhouette appeared up ahead on the sidewalk; by then, Willow was so nervous that she hadn't been able to keep from fidgeting on her seat, to Giles' obvious irritation, even though the Watcher had been kind enough to keep any comments he might have had about her behaviour to himself.

"There you are again", he greeted Buffy instead as she opened the door and let herself fall into the passenger seat, "how did it go?"

"Quite well", the blonde let him know, her gaze moving from him to Willow and back to the Watcher again, "I saw a few rather… interesting things. No sign of Pat though, sorry Will, maybe they're keeping her in the cellar or in one of the top floor rooms I couldn't peek in, there weren't enough conveniently placed trees…"

"How many of them are there?" the witch wanted to know in reply, not letting it show that this bit of news upset her quite a bit, "can we take them?"

"Not sure", Buffy sighed in response, giving her an unhappy look, "I counted eleven through the windows, but I couldn't peek into all the rooms, so I don't know if I missed any. And the strange thing was, they all looked like pretty teenagers, so maybe I didn't spot the parents. It was like in a soap opera or something."

"Not necessarily", Giles threw in, making them both look at him, "if they are capable of changing their looks and even their height and body type at will, as this woman impersonating Pat did, it would make sense for them to look young and beautiful."

"Good point", Buffy had to admit, making the Brit smile slightly; she briefly smiled back at him, then spoke on, her words making the redhead frown slightly. "Well, even if I did see them all, they were too many to just storm in and fight them, especially if we don't know how strong they are. We need to find a way to… get them out of the way first."

"A spell, perhaps", Willow pondered out loud, "the woman who impersonated Pat got out of my binding spell because she became… smaller when she returned to her usual looks, so that's why she could get out, but that doesn't mean that she could have freed herself with magic… a sleeping spell maybe…"

"That would be a good plan", Buffy gave back, "if such magic would work with them."

Willow still had a moment to ask herself how the blonde could know this, if she only had been able to peek at those strange people through the windows; and then, her best friend's fist came flying at her face, connecting hard with her lower jaw, stars exploding in front of her eyes before darkness took over.

* * *

_3_

The first thing Willow noticed when she came back around was that she was cold; the second was the dull, faintly pulsating ache in her jaw, and the third was the soft noise of something dripping not too far from her, the low groan she let out mixing with the sound as she forced her eyes to open, trying to ignore the way this simple act made her head swim.

"Ow", she mumbled to herself, reaching up and gingerly touching her jaw, wincing when immediately, the pain became much worse; she squeezed her eyes shut again for a moment to regain her composure, then forced herself to look around, dismayed to find herself in some sort of cell, the walls made of thick stone and damp with moisture, explaining the dripping sounds and the cold she was feeling.

"Never knew Angel had cells in his mansion", she grumbled as she studied the walls, then the heavy looking wooden door, briefly asking herself why exactly there were cells in the mansion; then, she figured she could worry about this later, telling herself that she had to find a way out of this first.

Coming to her feet, once again trying to ignore how standing up made the world spin around her, the redhead moved to the door, giving it a critical look before she reached out with her magic, trying to find out if any booby traps had been put on it; once she had made sure that this wasn't the case, she placed two fingers on the lock, briefly closing her eyes as she concentrated, a small smirk curling her lips when just a few moments later, it snapped open with an audible click and she could open the door.

Stepping out of the cell, she glanced left and right, momentarily glad that the adventures they had faced lately had given her the chance to practice her lock-picking magic; then, she focused on her surroundings again, trying to remember what Pat had taught her about how to find out if someone was watching her, what kinds of sounds she had to listen for to find out if someone was nearby and just waiting to pounce, knowledge the taller woman had gained through centuries of being an assassin for hire.

_Keep your calm, _she reminded herself of the most important thing the demon had told her, _Buffy, Giles and Pat must be around here somewhere, and once you're all together, you can get out of this._

Momentarily, she was surprised that apparently, no one was there to make sure none of them escaped; she remembered how the black haired woman had told her to listen for the soft sounds of people shuffling around, remarking that only very few were capable of standing utterly still for very well, along with the noise of breathing, but the only thing she could hear was the dripping sound, no matter how hard she focused.

Fighting down the urge to call out for Buffy, Giles or her partner, since she still couldn't be sure that no one else was around to hear her, Willow chose a direction at random and started to walk; she gave her best to move quietly, briefly wishing for her lover's ability to sneak practically soundlessly – before she nearly slapped one hand to her forehead as she remembered that she had a rather good way to make sure no one would hear her, stopping her walk again as she focused, subvocalizing as she called out to her Goddess yet again.

_Goddess, hear my call, _she thought as clearly and with as much focus as she dared without stopping paying attention on her surroundings, _silence my movement, hide me from all…_

As always when she worked magic, she felt the warmth of the spell spread around her, smiling slightly; it seemed that lately, Hecate had been smiling on her, her magic working so effortlessly and perfectly that it was almost scary, as if the Goddess was paying special attention on her and her needs.

Still, she was careful as she took the first step, then relieved when she realized that the spell worked just perfectly; and now that she didn't need to try sneaking any longer, she walked much faster as she continued down the rather dark hallway, listening closely for any noise which might reveal to her where her friends and partner had been taken.

_They can't be far, _she thought to herself, looking around and briefly stopping at the next door she found, pressing her ear against the wood, _the mansion's big, but not that big…_

She briefly debated with herself if she should risk open the door; there hadn't been a sound behind it, but that didn't mean that no one was inside, and the last thing she wanted was to reveal herself to the strange people having taken them here without knowing which, if any, magic was useful against them and none of her friends more capable of physical combat than she was by her side.

_You'll never find them though if you don't look into the rooms, _she then told herself; with a deep breath, she braced herself, then opened the door, surprised and glad to find out it wasn't locked, even though these feelings were diminished when the tiny room behind it, yet another cell, turned out to be empty.

Holding back a sigh, Willow closed the door again, then moved on to the next one; part of her registered that the dripping sounds were becoming louder as she walked down the hallway, something she ignored though as she knew that other sounds were much more important to listen out for, the cellar remaining quiet though as she kept moving, her own steps muffled almost completely by the spell.

Finding yet another door, she had to use her magic this time to open it; the room behind it was slightly bigger than the cells she had found before, but just as empty, and she frowned to herself as she closed the door again, then locked it, asking herself how many more rooms she'd have to check until she'd find someone.

Glancing around to make sure no one was sneaking up on her, she reassured herself that she was still alone in the hallway, then moved on; a fourth door was located not too far from the last one she had opened, and she grimaced when she found it locked as well, briefly pondering how much of her energies she was pouring into the spells to open the locks, then shrugging those thoughts off as she touched the lock again, the clicking sound which signalled that it had opened echoing through the cellar moments later.

And a second after the noise had died down, her blood froze in her veins as another, all too familiar sound came from behind the still closed door – a soft groan, barely audible, but still loud enough to let her register it and recognize it, her heart skipping a beat before it hammered painfully fast in her chest, fear of what she might find behind the door filling her and clouding her thoughts.

_It'll be okay, _she told herself, in an attempt to regain some of her calm, knowing her magic might be needed again any moment, _keep your calm, think of what Pat told you… oh Goddess, that was her and she's hurt, what did they do to her…?_

Knowing that there was only one way to find out, she placed a shaking hand on the door handle and pushed it down; the door swung open and her breath got caught in her throat, another groan from the demon drowning out her small gasp, her eyes widening as she just stood and stared, trying to comprehend the sight in front of her.

In the middle of the rather small room, they had put up two broad iron struts, forming an X; and chained to these struts at wrists and ankles, Pat more hung than stood, held upright more by the cold steel than her own strength, a hood made of black fabric over her head, keeping her from seeing that it was her partner who had entered and not one of the people who had hurt and tortured her.

That she'd been tortured was more than obvious to the witch; there were cuts and bruises and burns all over her body, some of them so fresh that they were still bleeding, the redhead only now realizing that this had been the dripping sound she had heard, her stomach turning at the thought, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in both shock and the attempt to keep down the last few meals she'd had.

"Oh God", she brought out, finally managing to tear herself out of her shocked stupor and hurrying to the construction with fast steps, "oh Sweetie…"

Quickly, she grasped the hood and pulled it off; this not only revealed more cuts and bruises but, to her shock, also made the demon jerk away from her touch, sweat trickling down her cheeks as she squeezed her good eye shut, as if she didn't want to look at her, this behaviour stunning the redhead so much that yet again, she could only stand there and stare.

"Not believing it", she heard Pat mutter under her breath, her voice slightly slurred, her dry and cracked lips showing that they hadn't given her much to drink, if anything at all, giving Willow a moment to wonder if she was delirious before she went on, "not believing it, she wouldn't do this to me, Willow wouldn't do such things to me…"

It took Willow another second to catch up, to realize what these words meant, but when she did, her eyes went wide again, her shock only increasing further as the full scope of the cruelty her partner had been tormented with hit home; she remembered how eerily well the woman in their home had impersonated Pat, looking like her so perfectly that she never would have noticed a thing, hadn't it been for her strange new behaviours, and how another one of them, or perhaps even the same woman, had pretended to be Buffy, with almost the same result, another gasp coming from her as her mind tried to handle this new, unexpected revelation – whoever had tortured her lover, had beat and cut and burned her, for whichever so far still unknown reason, had done it looking like her.


	9. Chapter 9

"Sweetie", she said the first thing which came to her mind, even though it wasn't the smartest thing to say, "it's me, I swear it is, this… other person doing this to you, that wasn't me, you know that, I'd never hurt you like that…"

She racked her mind for something else she could say to make her believe that she was the real Willow and not the impostor who had hurt and tormented her; before she could come up with something though, a cold chill ran down her spine again, and this time, she wasn't even surprised anymore when the voice spoke up in her head once more, the way Pat flinched in her bonds making it obvious to her that now, she was hearing it, too.

_They are coming back, and I can't help you to defeat them, _the voice told them both, sounding kind and even a bit worried, _step back, child, and I will shield you from their eyes and ears. Do not move and don't make a sound._

Footsteps approaching the cell made it clear to Willow that she had no time to ponder this, and even though it made her heart ache to move away from her injured lover, she did so, retreating to the far corner of the room; there, she stood in tense anticipation, forced to bite down on her tongue when the door opened and she had to watch an exact duplicate of herself enter, a perfect copy down to every detail she could make out.

At least though, whoever had spoken to her and hid her now was doing a good job, the impostor not even glancing into her direction as she walked over to the metal construct, a malicious smirk curling her lips as she looked at the demon, false sweetness in her voice when she spoke up, along with a cold contempt which sent shivers down Willow's spine again, the way how even her voice had been copied perfectly only adding to how disturbed she was feeling.

"So", the impostor was saying, looking at the helpless taller woman, "did you have time to think about what I said? Who am I?"

_Be strong now, child, _the voice spoke to her again, _remain still, and I shall shield you from her._

"Not Willow", Pat muttered in reply, the voice falling silent just in time so the witch could hear it; and then, the demon briefly glanced at her, long enough for her to notice, but not for the impostor, the woman not reacting the slightest to her moving gaze, briefly making the redhead glad that apparently, the shield was only working for the impostor and not for her lover, still making it possible for her to see her.

A moment later, the witch had to painfully realize why the voice had told her to be strong – her impostor's face darkened, and then she lashed out and hit the black haired woman, the force of the blow throwing her head to the right, a low grunt coming from her while fresh blood started to trickle from her split lip.

"Let's try this again", the impostor said, her voice dangerously low now, forcing the real Willow to bite her tongue yet again so she wouldn't yell at her to stop, to leave her partner alone; and another moment later, she smiled to herself as, in a demonstration that her will hadn't been broken yet, Pat cleared her throat noisily in reply – and then spat a mouthful of blood right into the woman's face, causing her to flinch back in disgust.

"You are not my girlfriend", the demon snarled, clenching her fists even though it was a useless gesture as long as she was chained, "I don't know who or what you are, but you are not my Willow."

"Such a slow learner", the woman gave back, reaching up with one hand and wiping the blood off with her sleeve almost casually, "but it doesn't matter. We have all the time in the world."

She smiled again, then stepped closer to the demon once more – before she lashed out and hit her yet again, backhanding her so hard this time that the whole construct shook from the force of the blow, a low groan coming from the taller woman as she slumped down in the chains afterwards, close to losing consciousness.

"Now, now", the impostor shook her head, still smiling, "no falling asleep on me this time. I brought you a special present, you want to see it, don't you?"

Once again, it took almost all of Willow's willpower to remain still as she watched how the other woman removed a scalpel from her pocket, holding it up so the sharp blade caught the light; and when she started cutting and Pat began to scream, only the fact that her lover kept glancing at her again and again kept the redhead from looking away, standing there in helpless silence as she had to watch her loved one going through all this pain, asking herself what the owner of the mysterious voice was hoping to accomplish with this and what powers these strange people might wield if she obviously wasn't supposed to step up and fight yet.

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like an agonizing eternity, the impostor obviously had gotten enough of torturing Pat and had left yet again, after taking the time to pull the black hood over the demon's head and making sure the chains binding her still were tight; and the moment the door had closed behind her, Willow was moving, hurrying to the metal construct and pulling the hood off again, relief filling her when this time, Pat met her gaze and didn't react the way she had the first time she had seen her.

"I knew it's not you", she brought out in a tired, pained voice, "I kept telling myself it's not you…"

"I wish I had figured this out sooner", Willow gave back, keeping her voice down to a whisper, not wanting anyone outside to hear them talk and come to check what was going on, "I'm sorry, Sweetie… But it'll be okay, I'll find Buffy and Giles and once the three of us are together, we can get you out…"

For a moment, Pat looked as if she wanted to protest, the thought of being left alone in this torture chamber clearly not appealing to her at all; then, she forced herself to nod, knowing that Willow was right and that she had to find their friends first before they could think of escaping.

"Stay away from them", she mumbled instead of pleading her to stay, "they're strong…"

Nodding, Willow wanted nothing more than to hold her close and give her some comfort after all the pain and horror she had endured the last few days; knowing that this would only make her pain worse though, she instead reached up and tenderly caressed her face, holding her gaze as she replied, her words making the taller woman smile weakly despite how much she was hurting.

"We won't let them get away with this", the witch promised, the tone of her voice showing that she meant every word, "we'll find out what they are and then we'll defeat them. And we'll get you out of here, I promise."

She briefly fell silent, then bent forward and tenderly kissed the demon; if it hurt her, Pat didn't let it show, nodding again when Willow reassured her that she'd hurry after she had pulled back again.

"I love you", the redhead added, caressing her cheek tenderly again, "and we'll be out of here soon. Just hold on a bit longer, okay?"

"Much easier now that I know you are here", the demon mumbled in reply; smiling at her, trying to not let it show how much the injuries of the taller woman were disturbing her, the witch briefly kissed her once more, then, with a heavy heart, forced herself to turn away from her and leave the room, closing the door behind herself without looking back, knowing she'd lose her resolve if she'd get another look at the injuries which had been inflicted on her partner.

_It'll be okay, _she told herself as she started her search again, moving on to the next door, always keeping her attention on the sound of footsteps and talking, hoping and praying to whoever might be listening that she'd find Buffy and Giles soon and that they'd be able to get their partner out of there before they tortured her even further.


	10. Chapter 10

With the aid of her magic muffling her footsteps and a streak of what could only be described as luck, Willow managed to find Buffy without running into any of the strange people having taken them to the mansion; in the end, it was quite easy to find the blonde, since she was hammering against the door of her cell, yelling on top of her lungs and demanding to be told what was going on, and almost attacking her best friend when she unlocked the door and opened it.

"Willow!" she cried out, stopping herself from punching the witch out in the last moment, "they took you too? How did you get out?"

"Magic, and luck", Willow gave back, "keep your voice down or they'll hear us, that wouldn't be so lucky… Do you have any idea where they took Giles? We need to find him, then go back to Pat and get her out, they've been torturing her, she's in really bad shape…"

She realized that she was close to babbling and forced herself to shut up, giving Buffy a chance to answer; to her dismay, the blonde shook her head, glancing around as she stepped out of the cell and into the hallway, dismayed as she remembered how large the mansion's cellar was.

"I suppose he won't be far", she mumbled, already moving to the next door on the left, "but I do wonder why they kept all of us alive, when they caught me when I was sneaking around, I was sure they'd just kill me. And why torture Pat?"

"I don't know", Willow gave back, using her magic yet again to open another door, briefly asking herself once more how much of her energy she was using for the lock picking, "but… the one who did it, she was impersonating me, it was really awful…"

For a moment, Buffy asked herself how Willow could know this, then figured that they could talk about this later, once they had gotten out of the mansion; she just gave her best friend a concerned look while she opened the door, dismayed to find the door behind it empty.

"Next one", she grumbled, already moving on, the redhead close behind her; they had to unlock three more doors until they finally found Giles, the Watcher looking rather annoyed, but relief lighting up his face when his gaze fell on the two of them.

"Thank Goodness, you are alright", he stated the obvious, "I was quite worried, and these strange people refused to talk to me or even to see me. I woke up in this cell and have been waiting for some explanations ever since."

"Didn't get any either", Buffy let him know while he came to his feet, quickly checking him for injuries, "but we'll find out, we always do. For now, we should focus on getting out of here."

"Of course", the Brit agreed at once, leaving the cell with the two women, "we should hurry, these people are awfully strong. At least the one who looked like you, Buffy, and knocked Willow and me out, was."

"Yes, they are", Buffy grumbled, "they took me down quite easily, too. But I'm gonna—"

She never had the chance to say what she was going to do, footsteps and voices coming up just around the corner to their left; and while their eyes still went wide, the two men rounded the corner, both of them appearing to be in their teenage years, with looks as if they just had jumped out of a commercial and into real life.

"…the prophecy", one of them was saying, "I don't think we…" He fell silent as both his companion and he spotted the two women and the man they had captured a few hours ago; the eyes of both men went almost comically wide – and then one of them was screaming on top of his lungs, alerting each and every one of them.

"Alert!" he yelled, the unexpected volume of his voice making them all flinch, "they got out! Get them!"

"Dammit", Buffy cursed as more footsteps approached, running at high pace, asking herself where they all were coming from now, "we have to get away from here, fast!"

"There's no escape!" the man yelled in reply, his voice still so dreadfully loud, "get them! Don't let them get away!"

From the other side of the hallway, a group of them rounded the corner, passing the room where Willow had been locked up in and the one where they were keeping Pat; finding themselves clearly outnumbered, the small group tensed, Buffy's voice low and clipped when she spoke up again.

"Willow", she started, gaining the attention of the witch, "can you get them out of the way? Just long enough so we can run past them?"

"I can try", Willow gave back, already knowing where this was leading, her heart clenching up in fear, "but… Buffy, we can't just…"

"We have to", the Slayer replied at once, saying just what Willow had known she would say before she even had opened her mouth, "Willow, there are too many to fight them without knowing what they are and what they can do, we have to!"

"We can't just leave her behind!" the redhead protested, close to tears, "we can't, Buffy, I can't do this to her!"

"We'll get weapons and spells and come back and get her", Buffy promised in response, talking faster as the men and women were approaching them at rather high speed, "but for now we have to get going, it won't help her at all if they capture us again!"

For a few more seconds, Willow just kept looking at her, knowing deep inside that the Slayer was right, but feeling as if her heart was torn out of her chest at the mere thought of leaving her lover in the grasp of these people any longer; then, without another word, she turned and brought up both hands, her eyes narrowing as she focused, not even needing to say anything to make the spell work, a pure blast of her will flying from her fingers and throwing the advancing people left and right as it hit them, creating an aisle broad enough for them to run through.

"Great job, Will, now let's go!" Buffy called out, then started to run without another word; and even though it was killing her inside to leave her partner behind there, Willow ran with her, past the stunned people on the ground, past the door which led to the demon's cell, to the stairs which would lead them to the mansion's ground floor, the sound with which the cellar door fell close behind Giles being one the redhead knew she'd never forget.

* * *

_2_

"So now you know", a woman Pat never had seen before stated as she entered the cell, the bottle with what looked like water she was holding causing the demon to pull at her chains violently, to no avail though, "not that it matters much, seeing how it wasn't working anyway. I have to say, your willpower is remarkable, refusing to believe I'm your lover the whole time."

She smiled as her face changed, the features moving and shifting until she looked just like Willow again; gritting her teeth, Pat glared at her, not giving her the satisfaction of letting it show how much this freaked her out, the way the flesh seemed to bubble and writhe during the change making her skin crawl.

"Quite the devotion, I have to say", she went on, her voice still her own, only adding to how disturbed the black haired woman was already feeling, "but she didn't repay you in kind, did she? Her little friends and her, they ran first chance they had, leaving you behind here. So we can play with you some more."

"They'll be back", Pat gave back at once, shifting against the cold metal when the woman approached her, the bottle still firmly in hand, "and then they'll know how to kick your ass."

"Could be", the woman shrugged, smiling at her again as she uncorked the bottle, "but until then, why don't we have some more fun? We are far from finished, you know."

Her smile widened as she stepped so close that the demon could feel her warm breath on her face, the metal they had chained her to cold against her back as she tried to move away from her; the woman's smile grew even wider at the taller woman's useless tries to avoid her, a malicious glint entering her eyes – before she raised the bottle and upended it, pouring the holy water onto the fresh cuts she had made not even an hour ago, the whole construct rumbling and shaking as, in an immediate response, Pat started to scream again and jerked at her chains, her screams mixing with the gleeful giggles the woman was letting out.


	11. Chapter 11

"We have to hit them fast, and hard", Buffy recapped their plan for the rescue mission at the exact same moment, making the rest of the Scoobie Gang nod in agreement, "we can't even give them time to think and realize what is going on. Willow, the spells?"

"Ready", Willow gave back at once, her face pale, but full of resolve and determination, "so let's go, I am not leaving her there one second longer than I have to."

Nodding, Buffy gripped her sword tighter, prompting the rest of the group to do the same; with the exception of the witch, they all were armed to the teeth, and the blonde thought to herself that it was a miracle none of them were clanking loudly as they headed to Giles' car, the Brit and Xander in the lead, Anya right behind, Willow and her bringing up the rear.

"Let's hope nothing will go wrong", Buffy mumbled after they all had piled into the car, making sure that they wouldn't accidentally cut each other up with their swords and axes, "the last thing we need now is that all of us get captured."

"It won't go wrong", Willow replied, with more confidence than she actually was feeling, "if no one messes up, that is."

Nodding, the Slayer held back a comment about this was exactly what she was fearing; instead, she looked out the window, breathing slowly and deeply as she focused on the upcoming battle. If everything went according to plan, there wouldn't be much to fight, as she very well knew; still, there was always the possibility of something not working, of the spell not affecting them or simply going wrong, and she wanted to be ready for all scenarios.

Just like they had during the first trip to the mansion, Giles parked the car two blocks away from the mansion; none of them wasted any time on speeches, all of them merely getting out of the car and starting to walk again, Willow taking the lead now as one of her spells was the first attack they'd launch against their new opponents, her Resolve Face now firmly in place, one hand clenched around the small bag filled with powder she had tied to her belt.

When the mansion came into view, her heart started to beat faster, but she didn't falter or slow down her steps; instead, she untied the short bit of string with one hand, then grasped the pouch firmly, feeling the reassuring weight of the powder inside it and the stones she had tied to it so it'd fly properly, Buffy catching up to her just as they reached the mansion, the look she was giving her being more than enough as the signal that she could get started.

In response, the witch took in another deep breath, focusing on the magic she could feel within her; and then, she brought back her arm and threw the pouch, the window she had aimed for shattering as it hit the glass and flew through it, the witch snapping out the words for the spell just as the pouch hit the floor and burst open. _"Nos nebulosus!"_

Just as it had been intended, the spell took effect immediately, thick mist rising from the powder on the ground and quickly spreading; surprised cries came from all over the house, but none of them paid them any attention as Buffy simply kicked the front door open with the aid of her Slayer strength and they all rushed towards the stairs leading into the cellar, Xander using his axe to strike down a startled looking man on the way, said man falling without even getting out a single sound.

In in front of him, Willow mumbled "illuminate" under her breath again and again as her focus moved from one member of the gang to the next, making sure that they would be able to see through the mist; immediately, his sight cleared, just in time to keep him from falling down the stairs as he followed Buffy into the cellar, watching how she hacked down a woman at the bottom of said stairs, then moved on, calling out to Willow so the witch could point out the room in which the demon had been locked up in.

"Third door up ahead!" the witch let her know in reply, flinching back as one of them came out of one of the cells lining the corridor; before he could touch her though, Giles was there, his sword coming down in an almost beautiful, glittering arch, a low gurgle coming from the man as he was cut down, falling just as his comrades had and not getting up anymore, allowing them all to move on.

Just like the entrance door, the one leading to Pat's cell didn't withstand Buffy's ferocious kicks for long; it didn't just swing open, as the front door had, but actually got torn off the hinges and slammed to the ground after the second kick, and within moments, Buffy had moved into the cell and behind the metal structure, not letting the horrible state the demon was in slow her down as she raised her sword, then brought it down with all her might, almost effortlessly cutting through the chain binding her right wrist to the steel.

The moment the chain had been sliced apart and fell to the ground, Pat slumped forward, but Willow was already there to catch her, holding her and mumbling soothing words to her while Buffy made short work of the remaining three shackles; and once the taller woman had been freed, the blonde moved to her side, without a word picking her up and slinging her over her shoulders in a fireman's grip, a low groan coming from the black haired woman at the movement.

"Let's go!" Buffy commanded, already heading back out to the hallway, not letting it show if the demon's height and weight hindered her; instead, she ran down the hallway, the rest of the group close behind her, their weapons readied as they rushed towards the stairs.

At the bottom, two of their opponents were already waiting for them, but before any of them got close enough to think of attacking them, Willow already had taken care of them, using the spell she had utilized a few hours ago to throw them aside, cries of surprise and pain coming from them when they hit the wall hard.

"Good job!" Buffy called out, then started climbing the stairs, the witch right behind her; another woman tried to stop them up ahead, and the redhead unleashed the spell against her, as well, the magic taking its toll on her by now though, the woman merely stumbling instead of falling – but before she could regain her balance, Anya was there and ran her through with her sword, jerking the weapon back out almost automatically as she ran past the gurgling woman, the front door in sight moments later, blocked by two more men, sneers on their faces as they glared at the small group.

"Stop at once!" one of them called out, the only reply he got being that Buffy and Willow slowed down so Giles and Xander could pass them; since none of the men had weapons, it was easy for them to cut them down, both of them falling with shocked cries, clearly not having expected such a level of aggression.

"Good", Buffy said as they ran out the front door and down the sidewalk, by now panting a bit, but not slowing down, "Giles, go ahead and ready the car!"

Even though sweat was glistening on his brow, the Watcher nodded, speeding up even more; while he ran, he already dug out the car keys, and by the time the rest of the group reached the vehicle, he was already behind the steering wheel and the engine was running, clutching the wheel with both hands as he was fighting to regain his breath.

Still, he stepped down on the gas pedal the moment Buffy had loaded the demon into the car and the rest of them had gotten in; and just a few minutes after they had arrived, they were off again, speeding away from the mansion and to the couple's apartment, Willow holding her partner close the entire ride and mumbling soothing words to her, her relief about having her back obvious on her face and through her voice.


	12. Chapter 12

"She'll be okay, right?" Buffy asked half an hour later, as she sat on the edge of the bed in the couple's bedroom, watching how Willow carefully disinfected cuts and burns, bandaging the deeper ones, "she can heal as soon as she wakes up…"

"Only if she's strong enough to stand upright and change", Willow gave back, holding back a sigh as she looked up from her work and at the Slayer; beneath her caring hands, Pat laid motionless, having passed out on the ride back to the apartment, but at least, the redhead reasoned, this spared her the pain the disinfectant burning in her wounds.

"I doubt she is right now", she then went on, focusing on her partner again and on yet another cut, the reddened and raw-looking flesh making it obvious that the wound had been burned, the witch guessing that holy water had been used since she knew that fire had no effect on her lover, "she couldn't even stand when you cut her loose, if I hadn't grabbed her, she would have fallen over…"

As if she had heard her, Pat let out a low groan; sensing that now, the couple was in need of some privacy, Buffy told her best friend that she'd go and make some tea, the witch nodding in response without taking her eyes off her lover; and just as the door closed behind the Slayer, the demon opened her good eye with another groan, even though she managed to smile weakly when her gaze met Willow's.

"Hey", the witch smiled, stopping her work on the taller woman's injuries so she could grasp her hand, "how are you feeling?"

"Like shit", the demon mumbled in response, grimacing as talking hurt in her throat, sore from screaming, and brought the countless hits she had taken right in the face back to her memory in form of dull aches, "and thirsty…"

"Buffy's making tea", Willow let her know in response, "but I'll get you some water first, I'll be right back…"

She took the time to squeeze her hand tenderly, then got up from her seat and hurried into the bathroom; there, she quickly filled the glass she normally used for rinsing after brushing her teeth with water, making sure it wasn't too cold before she returned to the bedroom, holding up the water so that the demon could see it, concern filling her again when Pat flinched visibly in reply.

"…sorry", the black haired woman mumbled a second later, briefly closing her eye and taking in a few deep breaths, "I know it wasn't you, but… She'd come in carrying a bottle of holy water, and hold it up just like that so I'd see what it was, and would know what she'd do to me…"

"I hope she was one of those we cut down", Willow mumbled in reply, briefly feeling bright anger at the people who had done this to her lover; then, she pushed it aside, telling herself that, for now, they didn't need to worry about them, and that she had to focus on Pat and on helping her getting better until she would be strong enough to stand up and heal.

"Me too", the demon agreed in a low, even hoarser than usual voice, reminding the witch of why she had gotten her the water in the first place; quickly, she made her way to the bed and sat down on the edge again, helping her partner to sit up far enough afterwards so she could drink, warning her that she shouldn't gulp it down if she didn't want to end up throwing it all up again.

Somehow, despite how thirsty she was, Pat managed to keep her advice in mind as she drank, forcing herself to take slow and small sips; thus, it took her a while until she had emptied the glass, but by the time she had, she looked much better already, not as tired and exhausted anymore, even some colour returning to her pale cheeks as she leaned back into the pillow again.

"I don't think I can get up and demon out yet", she answered the question before Willow even had the chance to ask, once more demonstrating how well she knew her, "maybe tomorrow in the morning, after I got some rest…"

"No worries", the redhead gave back at once, "Buffy and me will be right here and keep them from hurting you again… Did they tell you anything about why they were doing this?"

"No", the demon mumbled in reply, grimacing when Willow picked up the bottle of disinfectant again, not yet finished with cleaning all her wounds, "only reason I can imagine is that they wanted to turn me against you, for whatever reason. I don't see why they would torture me looking like you for any other purpose."

"I'm glad it didn't work", the redhead smiled at her, briefly remembering the dreadful time when her lover's humanity had been suppressed by a vile spell and her demon side had been unleashed, causing her to attack the witch and everyone else who made the mistake of getting too close to her, "it was really scary when I found you in that room and then you reacted so disturbed to me being there…"

She fell silent as she focused on cleaning yet another cut, feeling bad for her partner when she heard her wince in pain as the disinfectant made contact with her flesh; knowing that it was necessary though, she didn't stop, only giving the demon a brief apologetic look before her gaze moved back to the long, but at least rather shallow cut in her forearm.

"I wonder why they bothered with the torture", Pat pondered out loud, more to distract herself from the pain than for any other reason, "I mean, if they wanted me to attack you, they just could have used that spell Piretti was using."

"I just thought about that, as well", Willow had to admit, "but I suppose they had their reasons."

"Talking about reasons", Pat gave back, interrupting herself with another wince as the witch moved on to disinfecting yet another cut, "what about that strange voice when you came there the first time? What was the point of making you watch that bitch torture me?"

"I wish I knew", the witch sighed in reply, giving her an unhappy look, "so far, we don't even know who this voice belongs to. By now I'm quite sure though it's benevolent, she tried to warn me when the impostor was still here and she shielded me from that woman when she was in that dreadful cell with us…"

"Yeah", the taller woman mumbled, all at once sounding and feeling awfully tired as the exhaustion and pain of the last few days took their toll on her, "you're right…"

"Get some rest", Willow replied with a smile, tenderly caressing her hair, "we can talk more once you feel stronger… Maybe we'll know a bit more until then."

Nodding, Pat somehow managed to keep her good eye open until the witch had bent down to kiss her tenderly; only once the redhead had pulled back, she drifted off to sleep, snoring softly not even a minute later, her partner smiling to herself as she gathered up the medical supplies and left the bedroom as quietly as possible, eager to let her get the rest she so obviously needed.

* * *

_The pain was everywhere, and even though she had tried hard, so hard, not to scream, she had done so in the end, when it had become too much to bear silently; and all the while, the woman, the one who looked like Willow but surely wasn't, surely her lover wouldn't do such things to her, smiled and giggled and laughed with glee, only stopping the beating and the cutting and the burning to whisper into her ear, bright light accompanying each of her words, flashing in sync with the rhythm of her talking, and then the pain got so bad and she just wanted it to stop, wanted it all to end…_

"_Stop. _

_Please."_

She didn't wake up screaming, as she had from other nightmares before, but in a cold sweat, trembling all over, her fingers clenches so tight around the blanket that it hurt; and for a single, but dreadful moment, she still felt the chains around her wrists, the metal struts against her back, all materials she couldn't burn and withstanding her strength, making it impossible to free herself.

Then, Pat forced herself to take in a few deep breaths, consciously focusing of the mattress beneath her and the blanket covering her; and then, she heard Willow breathe slowly right next to her, the witch fast asleep by her side, lying close enough so she could touch her, but making sure she wouldn't increase her pain by being too close to her and accidentally applying pressure on her wounds, the mere presence of her lover helping the demon to calm down even further.

Forcing herself to release her tight grip on the blanket, she took in a few more deep breaths, glad when her racing heart started to slow down; and just when she thought that she had calmed down enough to try and go back to sleep, Willow stirred next to her, opening her eyes in the darkness moments later, sounding tired, but concerned when she mumbled "Sweetie?", moving a bit closer to her and placing a calming hand on her arm, despite her obvious sleepiness managing to keep her palm away from the bandages.

"It's nothing", Pat mumbled after a moment of silence and inner debate about what she should tell her, feeling bad enough for waking her up to keep the truth from her, "just a bad dream. Don't worry, I'm fine…"

"You're not", Willow gave back without missing a beat, having felt her tremble beneath her touch, "and it's okay, they've done horrible things to you… Come on…"

Carefully, so she wouldn't hurt her on accident, the witch moved closer to her lover, then pulled her into a gentle embrace; for a few moments, she felt the taller woman stiffen, not making another comment as she knew about her tendency to hide any feelings of fear and pain, not wanting to appear weak to her partner – before she relaxed noticeably, letting out a shuddering breath as she finally allowed the redhead to give her some comfort.

"It's okay to have bad dreams about this", the witch mumbled into her ear, moving one hand to caress her hair tenderly, "and to be afraid, after what they did to you, it's a miracle you're not a crying mess…"

"Then they would win", Pat gave back, snuggling even closer to her nonetheless, "and I won't let that happen, I can't let that happen…"

She fell silent and swallowed heavily while Willow just held her close, not sure what she could say in reply; for almost a full minute, the only noise in the bedroom were her calm breaths and the slightly harsher and faster ones of her partner, then Pat finally spoke up again, her words making the witch's heart clench up.

"I tried not to scream, at first", the black haired woman almost whispered, sounding strangely detached now, as if she wasn't talking about something which had happened to her, but about something she had read in a book or had seen in a movie, "I tried, I didn't want to give them the satisfaction… but she wouldn't stop, she just wouldn't stop and then I couldn't help it, I just had to… And that was bad enough. But letting them break me even further…"

"They didn't break you at all", the redhead protested at once, prompting her partner to let out a snort of disbelief, "if they had, you would have believed that it was me doing all those horrid things. But you didn't, you held on to the truth, no matter what she was telling you and what she was doing to you…"

"She threatened to take my eye", Pat almost blurted out in reply, as if she had been holding those words back so far, but now had failed at last and had been forced to say them, "she said she'd just rip it out... and she would have done it, if you hadn't come to get me, she would have done it, I know it…"

"But we got you out", Willow gave back, still caressing her hair tenderly in an attempt to calm her down, trying to hide how much the thought of her partner losing her other eye disturbed her, "so it doesn't matter what she would have done. We got you out, you're safe now and she won't hurt you anymore…"

"I know", the demon gave back, lying so close to the witch by now that she could feel how finally, her heart rate started to slow down; glad that finally, her attempts to make her feel better were working out, Willow kept caressing her hair and mumbled soothing words into her ear until at last, the calming and slowing breaths of her partner showed that she was falling asleep; still she kept it up until she could be sure that Pat was back in dreamland, only allowing herself to follow her there once the taller woman was slumbering deeply, her last thought being the hope that now, her lover would be able to slumber through the rest of the night without any bad dreams and memories haunting her.


	13. Chapter 13

_1_

When Pat woke up in the next morning, Willow's side of the bed was empty, briefly causing her to panic as horrid mental images of their new opponents kidnapping and torturing her partner flashed up in her mind's eye; then, she heard the redhead rummage around in the kitchen and relaxed, grimacing as she scolded herself for being such a wuss, telling herself that she couldn't afford acting like that as long as the threat of these strange people was still out there.

Now that she had managed to get some sleep, she felt strong enough to stand up and demon out so she could speed up the healing of her injuries; knowing that this feeling might turn out to be false the moment she'd really get out of bed, she sat up at first, gritting her teeth at the pain this brought up all over her body, even though it already felt much better than it had the previous day, when they had cut her down from the metal construct and Willow had kept her from falling flat on her face.

Once she had been sitting upright for almost a full minute without feeling dizzy, she dared to slowly stand up, keeping one hand on the bedframe just in case; for a few dreadful seconds, it felt as if her knees would buckle beneath her after all, then she managed to steady herself, taking in a few deep breaths before she let go of the bed, immensely relieved when her legs did her the favour of carrying her, the pain still rather intense, but not so bad that she wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Still she waited another minute until she, with a brief focused thought, started the transformation; the sound of bandages ripping and tearing filled the bedroom as her muscles bulged and her hair lengthened into fur, the demon gritting her suddenly much sharper teeth against the pain as her wounds briefly widened during the transformation – before the relief of healing flesh came, along with the usual, not so pleasant noises, a low, satisfied growl freeing itself from her throat as the pain lessened, then vanished, new strength filling her.

"You reckless woman", Willow's voice came from the door leading into the bedroom, prompting the demon to turn around and focus on her; anyone who didn't know her would have run screaming from her glowing red gaze falling on them, but the witch just remained where she was, leaning comfortable against the doorframe, shaking her head as she smiled slightly, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Not even a full day in bed, and already you get up to demon out", she went on, stepping closer to her lover once Pat had thought of toning down the flames which inevitably started to flicker all over her body when she changed, reaching up and tenderly running one hand from the black haired woman's shoulder down her arm to her hand, once more amazed about how soft the fur felt, "not that I don't understand you, I'd want to heal as quickly as possible, as well, but what if it had ended badly?"

"It didn't", the demon rumbled, mindful of the way her fingernails turned into pointy claws whenever she changed when she grasped her lover's hand, not wanting to accidentally injure her, "and I feel much better now. Actually, I'm starving. Please tell me you made breakfast?"

"I did", Willow confirmed with a small laugh, "and since I figured out that you'd try to change today, and actually feared it a bit, so I made a hearty and big one. You'll like it."

"Awesome, best girlfriend ever", Pat rumbled, earning another laugh from her partner; she took another moment to run her palm over the soft fur, then stepped back so the demon could return to her human form, something she did seconds later, looking so much healthier and better when she finished that it almost took Willow aback as it once more demonstrated her rather remarkable healing abilities.

"Much better", the taller woman sighed, "now just let me put on some clothes and then I'll be ready to munch down whatever you made for me."

"Take your time", Willow gave back, eating the eye candy with relish, now that her partner was fully fine again; Pat took a moment to smirk at her, raising an eyebrow, then moved on to the cupboard, quickly finding a clean shirt and comfortable sweatpants there, making her way into the kitchen with Willow right behind her afterwards, her mouth watering at the sight of the coffee, eggs, toast and fried bacon her lover had prepared for her.

"Just as I said", she sighed happily as she sat down to eat, delighted to find that the coffee was just the way she liked it, with only a splash of milk and a lot of sugar, "best girlfriend ever."

"You know, that was one of the hints which tipped me off that you've been replaced by an impostor", Willow gave back, sitting down to have her own portion of the food, "she'd drink her coffee with no sugar at all. And she coughed whenever she smoked. They should have sent someone used to it."

"Indeed", Pat grumbled between two big bites of bacon, "but I'm glad you saw through it so quickly. Just imagine if it had taken you longer…"

She grimaced at the thought, an expression Willow mimicked as she nodded; for a few moments, they were silent as they thought of all the horrible things their new opponents might have done to the demon, had she been there longer, then Pat forced her thoughts away from these dreadful mental images, instead asking if they had found out anything about how these people actually were yet.

"No", the witch sighed in reply, taking a sip of coffee before she spoke on, "we were mostly focused on getting you out. Now that we got you back, we can—"

The ring of the doorbell interrupted her, and she frowned as she asked herself if they were expecting anyone; when Buffy had left the previous evening, she hadn't said anything of coming over, but the Slayer was the only possible visitor the redhead could think of, a thought she voiced to her lover as she got up from her seat.

To her surprise, Pat did the same, just shrugging when the witch asked her if she didn't want to stay and finish her breakfast; figuring that, after what had happened, the demon wouldn't want to let her out of her sight, her protectiveness taking over once more, Willow just accepted it and moved to the apartment door with the taller woman in tow, both of them wearing identical looks of confusion and puzzlement after it had been opened and they found themselves looking at a boy in his teens, his facial expression slightly sheepish as he looked back at them.

"Um, hello", he then finally broke the quite uncomfortable silence which had formed, "you don't know me, but I'm here to help."

"Who are you?" Willow wanted to know in response, a dreadful sense of foreboding filling her as she remembered that each and every one of their opponents they had run into had looked a teenager when they hadn't been impersonating Pat or her; and moments later, he confirmed her worst fears, shuffling his feet as he replied, his words making the demon growl lowly behind her.

"I'm of the Family", he mumbled, glancing up at them again, even scratching the back of his head to appear even more awkward, "but I've come here to help, I swear…"

"Of what Family?" Willow asked in response, even though she already knew the answer; and before the boy had a chance to reply, Pat spoke up behind her, her voice so full of rage that it made the redhead flinch visibly. "Do you really have to ask? Of those who kidnapped and tortured me, of course."

* * *

The boy looked as if he had wanted to say something, but once again he didn't get the chance; this time, he wasn't interrupted with words though, but by the demon moving past Willow too fast to give the redhead a chance to stop her, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him up against the wall behind him hard enough to knock the breath out of him, his eyes going wide as his feet uselessly kicked around in an attempt to find a hold against the smooth wall.

"What the fuck do you want here", Pat snarled up at him, unimpressed by his struggles, just loosening her grip enough so he'd get enough air to answer her, "take me back there so that bitch can torture me some more? Or maybe take Willow this time and torture her looking like me, to spice things up a bit?"

"Nothing of the sort", he wheezed in reply, "please, just put me down and we can talk. I swear on my life, I'm not here to harm you…"

_He speaks the truth, _the still unknown female voice spoke to both Willow and Pat before any of them could say anything, _there is no ill intent within him. He is not like those he shares blood with._

For a moment, Pat still felt like just twisting his head off, knowing that she could do it if she really wanted to, that she was strong enough; then, a cold shiver ran down her back before a strange calmness filled her, feeling as if it didn't come from within herself, but from some outer source, the black haired woman not even fully noticing how she put him back on the ground and stepped back, still keeping a close eye on him, but not feeling the need to attack and kill him any longer, all her rage gone.

_Let him speak, _the voice advised both the witch and her, _and then decide how to proceed._

"I'd really like to know who you are", Willow mumbled, the young man obviously thinking that she had meant him since he smiled nervously at her, taking a cautious step away from Pat before he replied, neither of the couple correcting his assumption that she had been talking to him.

"My name's Nathan", he mumbled, fumbling with his collar in an attempt to straighten it, "and as I said, I'm not here to harm you. My family has no idea I'm here actually… But we shouldn't talk out here in the hallway. May I come in?"

"Sure", Willow was the one to answer this time, stepping aside so he could enter, "but just so you know, I'm a powerful witch and Pat has a bunch of weapons in our home which she knows how to use. So don't try to do anything you might regret."

"I told you, I don't want to harm you", Nathan gave back while he entered the apartment, then took off his shoes and jacket, "I'm here to help you. This has been going on for too long."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Pat demanded to know, with just enough of a growl in her voice to let it be audible; he gave her another nervous glance, but still his voice was firm when he replied, his words making both the witch and the demon raise an eyebrow before they exchanged a worried glance. "You don't. But you have to, because if you do not, one of you will die, and great suffering will come over the rest of all of you. All of humanity."


	14. Chapter 14

"The Family has been around for a long time", Nathan let them know ten minutes later, after they had sat down in the kitchen, he had been offered coffee – which he had declined – and Pat had lit up a cigarette, eying him critically now as he spoke, "and we have various… talents among us. One of them is that some of us are born seers, with the ability to make prophecies."

"And one of those is about us?" Willow wanted to know, giving him a sceptical look, "I find that hard to believe."

"Not you specifically", Nathan replied, shaking his head as if to underline his words, "as in, it's not mentioning you by name or anything. But you're fitting the text, both of you, better than any of those they were after before."

"What does that prophecy say?" the witch asked, exchanging a worried look with her partner; in reply, Nathan cleared his throat, then recited the words, the concern of the couple only growing as they listened to him.

"_Demon with a heart, witch of light and dark", _the young man was saying, his eyes glazing over slightly as he focused, _"if one is by the other slain, a lot of power for the immortals to gain. Heart of darkness, heart of light, leading to the final fight."_

"At least it's not cryptic", Willow mumbled one he had fallen silent again, glancing at her partner once more, "but apparently, the seer has a thing for rhymes."

"He does", Nathan gave back with a roll of his eyes, "which tends to get kinda annoying. And no, before you ask, you were not the first ones we went after. But none fit the profile as well as you do. We had some demons being with witches before, all over the world, but none of them united darkness and light within them as well as both of you do."

"So we're not the only couple out there consisting of a witch and a demon, aw, I thought we were special", Pat snarked, ignoring it when the young man gave her an odd look, "that's a pity. But why would one of us slay the other? I'd rather die than harm her."

"They learned that the hard way", Nathan gave back, "when you refused to believe that it was her torturing you. The other demons were not nearly as strong, they bought it hook, line and sinker and killed their partners once they came to the rescue. But none of them fit the profile well enough to make it work. Until they heard of the two of you."

"So, let me get this straight", the demon frowned, "you let them do it for a while, often enough to speak of more than one demon killing their witch partner after the torture, and now that they found us, you come to help? Why?"

"Because you were the first one who got away", Nathan replied calmly, "and as much as I don't want my family to succeed, I will not interfere as directly as freeing a captive they've made. That would get me killed."

"Fine", Pat grumbled after a moment, "let's assume we believe you. So what do they think will happen once I kill Willow or the other way round?"

"A transfer of power", Nathan gave back, glancing at the witch, "once you kill her, all her power goes to the Family. We are quite powerful already, as you surely noticed, but with so much extra fuel, there is no limit to what we can do. If she kills you, well, not much will happen, no offense, but you're not nearly as powerful as she is."

"None taken", the demon shrugged, well aware of this fact, "so they'll want to make me kill her, which is why they kidnapped me and tortured me, looking like her. Makes sense, but didn't work. Have any idea what they might do now?"

"No", the young man sighed, running one hand through his short brown hair, "none at all. As I said, you were the first one who got away from them. I have no idea what they might plan now, I'm not that involved in the whole process. Perhaps they made some backup plan when they realized that you wouldn't break and that Willow had blown the replacement's cover."

"Which wasn't too hard", the witch pointed out, smiling slightly, "you guys should have chosen someone to impersonate her who's used to smoking and likes their coffee sweet."

"Well, whatever their backup plan is, we shouldn't give them time to set it in motion", Pat pointed out, making both Nathan and Willow nod, "so we better hit them again before they can figure out what do to. At least you guys decimated them a bit when you got me out."

"Um, no, in fact you didn't", Nathan mumbled, looking almost sheepish when he received startled looks in reply, "we're not that easy to kill. Didn't you pay attention? The prophecy? It said 'The immortals'. That's what we all are. Just running us through with a sword won't keep us down."

"Great, just great", Willow sighed, "so how can we kill them?"

"Beheading works with everything", the demon grumbled, clearly not all too happy about those news, "well, except with a hydra, I suppose. But apart from that…"

"For example", Nathan nodded, to the relief of both of them since at least, it showed that they could be killed, "or crushing them to a pulp. But that doesn't work all the time, only if they're… smashed enough."

"How many of you are there?" Willow wanted to know, giving him a worried look, "I mean, there's a bunch of us, but not all of us are as strong as Buffy and Pat. I'm not sure Anya, for example, should go up against them…"

"We are thirteen, currently", the young man gave back, "and you really shouldn't think of bringing anyone who is not a skilled fighter. Most of us are."

"This gets better and better", Pat sighed, lighting up another cigarette, "hard to kill immortals who are, of course, skilled at battle. Do you have any more pleasant facts? Can they breathe fire or something?"

"Some are skilled at magic", Nathan let her know, making her roll her good eye, "but those should be easy to deal with for you, Willow, you are protected after all."

"Protected?" Willow echoed, "you mean by my magic? Yes, kind of, once I conjure up a shield…"

"Not what I meant", Nathan shook his head, "the seers noticed it when their attention focused on the two of you. You really don't know?"

"Don't know what?" the witch gave back, confused, exchanging a look with her partner, the taller woman looking just as bemused as she was feeling; leaning forward, Nathan gained her attention again, his words making her eyes go wide while the demon took in a sharp breath, clearly not having expected what the young man was telling them.

"You're one of the most powerful witches on the planet", he let her know, "and there are forces at work who do not wish to see you killed. Your Goddess herself is protecting you, Willow."

* * *

"Well, those are quite the news", Buffy said almost an hour later; after the stunning revelation that Hecate herself was having an eye on her during this ordeal, Willow had called the Slayer and Giles to the home she shared with her partner, eager to introduce Nathan to them and to tell them everything, so a plan to defeat the family before they could take any other steps to fulfil their prophecy could be devised.

"So, let me recap", the blonde went on after a moment to collect her thoughts, her gaze focusing on Nathan, "that mysterious family came here to fulfil some weird prophecy about how they will gain a load of power once they manage to make Pat kill Willow or vice versa, you're here to help us prevent that because you don't want them to succeed, and because Hecate doesn't want that, either, she's protecting Willow."

"Yes", the young man nodded, "that's basically it. I know this is hard to believe, and you might find it difficult to trust me, but if you all want to survive this, you should accept my help."

"Well, you did tell us how to kill them", Buffy shrugged, "so at least, we know you're really willing to help. It's a pity though that they are so hard to kill."

"At least they can be killed", Giles gave back, making the rest nod, "we'll just have to be very careful to make sure that, once we brought one of them down, he or she is really dead and won't get back up to attack from behind. Or, better said, you should be careful, because as Nathan suggested, anyone who is not an excellent fighter or user of magic should not go up against them."

"So, in other words, it'll be Buffy, Pat and me going up against them", Willow summed up, earning a concerned look from her lover; before the demon could voice any protest about that idea though, the Watcher already had nodded, his gaze focusing on the black haired woman as he spoke up again.

"I know you're not too fond of this idea", he demonstrated how well he knew her by this point, "but you must keep in mind that, according to Nathan here, they know how to use magic as well. So you might need someone with you who can provide shields against any offensive magic they might use."

"I know", the demon had to admit with a sigh, giving her partner an unhappy look, "but that still doesn't mean I have to like the idea of her coming along when we go to fight these… people. They're ruthless, and strong, and I don't want her hurt."

"Well, I won't get into the middle of battle", Willow reassured her, reaching over to grasp her hand and managing to make her smile slightly with the tender touch, "but Giles is right, you need someone with you to protect you against any magic they might use against you…"

"Yeah", Pat grumbled, "but I still don't like it. Just make sure you stay away from them, alright?"

"When should we go?" Buffy wanted to know, clearly deciding that the matter had been settled and that it'd be the three of them plus Nathan who'd go and bring the fight to the immortals, "now? Pat's right, we need to hit them fast, before they can regroup and figure out another way to make her do their dirty work."

"As fast as possible", Nathan agreed at once, leaning forward slightly as if to underline his words, "unfortunately, I don't know what they are planning now that their initial method of torturing their victim into believing whatever they want failed, but I'm pretty sure they still got an ace up their sleeve."

"How come you don't know?" Giles frowned, giving him a sceptical look, "you'd think that, in a group as small as thirteen people, there would be no secrets."

"Are you kidding?" Nathan gave back with a small laugh, shaking his head, "there are more secrets than in the CIA and FBI have put together. Keeping secrets from each other and intriguing among ourselves is one of the ways we keep ourselves entertained. You find that being immortal kind of… dulls your appetites for the more harmless pleasures in life after a while."

"Charming", Pat snarked, making the young man smirk slightly again; he shrugged, as if to say that it didn't really matter, then focused on the Slayer again, as it was more or less obvious that she was the head of the small group.

"We should leave right now, if that is possible", he advised, "they might notice that I'm gone otherwise, and come to some conclusions we really don't want them to come to. If they figure out I came to you and am helping you, it will only make things harder."

"Are you up to it?" Buffy wanted to know, giving Pat a concerned look, "I agree with Nathan, we should take them down as fast as possible, but it doesn't make sense to go after them if you're not on top of your game."

"I'm fine", Pat gave back at once, not really surprising anyone – even if she weren't, she'd never be willing to admit it, especially not to someone she barely knew, as it was the case with Nathan; she had a hard enough time to make such confessions to Willow, and telling anyone else never had been easy for her and probably never would be.

"In fact, I'm eager for some payback", she added, knowing that her partner and friends knew about her tendency to keep pain and insecurity to herself, "after what they did to me, I can't wait to get my hands on them. Or my axe into them."

"Remember to go for the head", Buffy told her after a moment, figuring that, even if the demon wasn't fully fine, they had to act fast to prevent any more harm being done to any of them; Pat just nodded in response, then got up from her seat and suggested that they should get some weapons then, the Slayer coming to her feet as well in response and moving to the bedroom with her where the weapons were kept in a chest next to her side of the bed, adrenaline already building up within her as she thought of the upcoming fight.


	15. Chapter 15

"Alright", the Slayer muttered a short while later, getting out of the car and clutching her sword tightly, "Willow, you got the spells ready?"

"As ready as I can have them", Willow gave back, "I prepared a shield spell so they can't fry us or something, and I got the vine spell readied, in case we need to tie one or more of them down. And a few more, basic ones."

"Good", the blonde gave back, "just make sure you don't overdo it. Pat, you ready, too?"

"Yup", the demon replied, lifting her axe for emphasis, "ready to bust some heads. Or slice them off, whatever works better. Let's go?"

"Be careful", Nathan admonished from the driver's seat of the car they had driven to the mansion with, "as I said, they are hard to kill. And powerful."

"So are we", the taller woman was the one to answer that, giving him a critical look afterwards. "You're not coming?"

"And shove it in their faces that I've betrayed them? I'm not suicidal", Nathan gave back at once, shaking his head, "no, no offense, but just in case this goes wrong and you all end up dead, I'm not keen on joining you guys in the afterlife."

"How helpful", Willow muttered under her breath, but still loud enough for him to hear; he just shrugged, earning a dirty look from Pat, the demon not making a comment about how much of a coward this made him in her eyes; instead, she just shouldered her axe, nodding into the direction of the mansion as she asked if they should get moving, then.

"Yes", Buffy replied at once, "let's go and deal with them. I have enough to do in this town as it is, I don't need any extra work in form of a family of power-hungry immortals."

"I wonder what they want to do with all that power", Willow pondered as they started walking, "Nathan didn't really say, did he?"

"Well, I doubt they'll use it to end hunger and bring world peace", the demon shrugged, "anyone who's willing to torture a bunch of people, or demons, surely won't do so with the best intentions for the rest of the world in mind."

"Good point", Willow had to admit, "but I still find it weird he seems to know so little about their plans. Do you think they suspect he might betray them?"

"Maybe he took their little games of intrigue a bit too far", Buffy shrugged, clearly not all too worried about the reason for Nathan's lack of knowledge, "and now they're wary around him. Who knows how these people tick if they are centuries old. No offense, Pat."

"None taken", the taller woman gave back, then they all fell silent as the mansion appeared up ahead; they were surprised by the lack of guards, having figured that they would put someone up to watch the doors after their last rather dramatic entry to rescue the demon, the three of them coming to a halt as they studied the building.

"I don't like this", Pat finally said what they all we rethinking, "not even immortals should be that careless. They know that you got me out, and they should be smart enough to figure out that we'll come here to take them down. So why are there no guards?"

"Maybe it's a trap", Willow mumbled, glancing around nervously as if she expected the immortals to pop out of the surrounding bushes any moment, "but if it is, the Goddess isn't warning me about it…"

"Some information from her would be useful right about now", Pat grumbled, "so what do we do? Go in anyway?"

"…I don't think we have to", Buffy gave back after a moment's pause, as the lights in the windows at the front of the mansion came on in perfect unison, her grip on her sword tightening, "they've been waiting for us, and I think they are about to send out the welcome committee."

In confirmation of her words, the front door of the mansion flew open the blink of an eye later, revealing the group which had been standing behind it; there were six of them, half of the family, Buffy figured, if what Nathan had told them about their number was true, one of them being the one who had tortured Pat, having taken on the appearance of the witch again, to the demon's obvious dismay.

"Why is she still doing that?" Willow whispered next to her, quite freaked out by the sight as well, "we know that she's not me, so she's not expecting it to work, is she?"

"Not sure what she intends to accomplish", Pat gave back, gripping her axe so tightly that her knuckles had whitened, "but… Buffy, would you mind being the one to take care of her? I don't think I can, even knowing it's not Willow."

"Sure", the Slayer gave back at once, then the one who had chosen to look like the witch spoke up, making them all flinch with how eerily her voice sounded exactly like the redhead's, only the cold and contemptuous tone being wrong.

"So, you came at last, to get some revenge", she observed, taking a step forward, separating herself slightly from the rest of her group, "we have been waiting for you."

"I hope you don't expect this to be a social call", Buffy gave back, raising her sword slightly as if to make sure they were seeing it, "your little schemes have been going on long enough. We're here to stop you."

"Of course you are", the impostor gave back with a wave of her hand, "we didn't really expect you to come here for tea and cake. You might be in for a surprise though."

She smiled and took another step forward, the rest of her group following her this time, moving out of the mansion; they all lined up on the front porch behind the impostor, none of them armed, and all of them looking quite relaxed and calm, as if they hadn't fully realized yet that they would be in a fight for their lives in just a few minutes.

"We got you a welcome present though, anyway", the Willow impostor continued after they all had come to a standstill again, "it's a bit… hidden right now, but I'm sure you'll like it once we revealed it."

"I doubt that", Buffy dryly gave back, making the woman chuckle slightly; she took yet another step forward, and when her gaze focused on Pat, the demon nearly took one back, away from her, having to use almost all of her willpower to remain where she was.

"Still scared of me, are you", the impostor observed, "well, can't say I'm surprised. I did have so much fun with you, but I imagine it wasn't as pleasurable for you."

"How observant of you", the demon snarked as an answer, making the woman laugh again; then, she crossed her arms over her chest, an evil glint in her eyes as she replied.

"Indeed, I am. I also observed that, even though I look exactly like your little lover here, you wouldn't buy it", she let them know, only telling them something they already knew anyway, "so I hid our present for you. Listen closely now, demon."

Her eyes narrowed while Buffy and Willow exchanged worried looks, not sure what to expect now; before they could figure out what to do now though, the impostor spoke up once again, and Pat stiffened next to them, her good eye going wide as she heard the words.

"Fly with me, forever higher", the woman intoned, almost in sing-song, "and with these wings, we'll _set the world on fire."_

Buffy and Willow had a moment to ask themselves what this was supposed to mean, if it was some sort of spell they never had heard of before; and then, Pat let out a low growl next to the witch, her good eye filling with a deep red glow they never had seen before, a gasp escaping the witch when the demon turned her head to look at her and all recognition, all the feelings she had for her were gone from her gaze, replaced by feral anger and hatred so deep that it was inhuman.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as she could do was stand and stare while the taller woman raised her free hand, growling constantly; from the corner of her eye, she saw that Buffy was starting to move, but still didn't realize what was about to happen, time only snapping back to regular speed when the Slayer tackled her and threw her to the ground, out of harm's way as fire shot from Pat's hand, a constant stream which flamed through the air where she had been standing seconds ago.

"Kill her!" they heard the impostor cry out, malicious glee in her voice, almost insane laughter following her words, "kill her and make us powerful beyond our wildest dreams!"

In response, the axe came down, and again it was Buffy who saved Willow, by keeping a firm grasp on her as she rolled to one side, taking her with her; the blade hit the ground instead of her body, and moments later, the two had come to their feet, with the blonde almost dragging the witch up, yelling at her that they had to run, to get some distance between the crazed demon and themselves, Pat's growls following them as they ran, both of them unable to believe that this really just had happened.


	16. Chapter 16

They ran until Willow's lungs were burning and her legs felt as if they might give in beneath her any moment, the sound of the demon's growls and roars constantly behind them; and every now and then, a jet of flame would come after them, forcing them to waste even more precious energy by getting out of the way with daring dives – and after having to do just that yet again, the witch found herself unable to get back up again, nearly collapsing when Buffy pulled her to her feet.

"We have to get moving", Buffy told her in a frantic voice, even though she wasn't even sure where they were going, "come on!"

"And then what?" Willow wanted to know in response, breathing heavily while they found cover behind a delivery truck, at least momentarily protected from the flames, "just leave her with them? We can't leave her behind, not again, there has to be a way to stop her, to reverse this…"

"What did she do?" Buffy asked, flinching when another torrent of fire hit the truck, accompanied by an angered roar from Pat as it had no immediate effect, "how could she just… make her that way? Was it a spell?"

"I don't think so", the witch replied, hoping that the demon wouldn't get the idea to shoot flame beneath the truck and set their feet on fire, "I think it was… a trigger… She must have planted it when she realized Pat wouldn't believe it was me torturing her…"

_You are right, child, _Hecate's voice spoke within her, the way Buffy flinched and gasped showing that she had heard it this time, as well, _and I can help you reverse it. Get close enough to her so you can touch her, and I shall work the magic through you._

"Right, so not a good idea", Buffy was the one to protest this, looking around as if she'd be able to spot the Goddess and talk to her directly, "right now, Pat wants to kill her, so getting close to her is the last thing Willow should do."

"I have to", the witch gave back, making the blonde look at her, "if this really is the Goddess speaking to me, I have to take the risk and get her back…"

"…fine", Buffy agreed after a second, realizing that she wouldn't be able to talk Willow out of this anyway, and that just letting a highly aggressive demon run rampant on the streets wasn't an option; she took in a deep breath, then rushed out of her cover, immediately greeted by another burst of fire, managing to get out of the way just in time, the flame hitting the asphalt and puffing away harmlessly.

Now that the Slayer had left the protection of the delivery truck, Willow did the same, moving to her side; a few meters behind the demon, she could see the woman posing as her, along with another member of the family, both of them smiling as they watched how Pat let out another roar, then fired more flames at her, once again forcing her to dive out of the way.

"So how do you want to do this?" Buffy demanded to know while they both came to their feet again, standing side by side, "how do you want to get close enough to her to touch her? She'll try to fry you on the spot, and the closer you get to her, the better her chances for that are becoming!"

"I know", Willow gave back, her gaze never leaving her partner; as she stood facing the demon on the destroyed street, she had time to ask herself how it all had gone so wrong, how they had ended up in this situation. Next to her, Buffy clearly had no time for such ponderings, her whole body tense as she clutched the sword she had brought, not making a move to attack though, merely looking at the opponent of the witch and her, any emotion she might have felt well hidden behind a stone cold poker face as she pondered how to give her cover so she could get close enough to do the magic.

Opposite of them, a good twenty meters of distance between them, Pat let out another roar as she glared at them; and still all humanity was gone from her features, feral rage and hatred twisting them, her teeth bared in a vicious snarl as she raised her hands and fire burst from them in a steady, unwavering stream, forcing the two other women to get out of reach with a daring dive, both of them hitting the pavement hard enough to have the air knocked out of them.

"Hecate protect me", the witch whispered under her breath as the glowing red gaze of her lover focused on her; as if she had heard her, the demon let out yet another roar, more fire shooting from her hands a second later, hitting the shield Willow had conjured around herself and puffing away harmlessly, but still she felt as if she had taken the full force of the attack, still finding it hard to believe that her partner was so far gone that she'd attack her with the intention to not only harm her, but to kill her.

"Pat!" she called out as she came to her feet again, as she had done a dozen times since this whole mess had begun, "you don't want to do this, please! I know you're still in there somewhere, please come back to me!"

Somewhere to her left, she heard the cackle of one of those responsible for the whole situation, but she didn't bother to look there, knowing that it was her impostor and not wanting to face it again; instead, she kept her gaze focused on her lover, forced to pour more of her magic into the shield as yet another jet of flame shot towards her.

"Please", she tried again, this time not even raising her voice anymore though, knowing her lover was too far gone to listen to her; the only response she got was another tremendous roar coming from the black haired woman, and she closed her eyes briefly as she realized how this might have to end while around them, the fire was spreading, alarms going off here and there, but miraculously no people running around, either hiding out or having left before the danger really had started, sensing that something bad was coming their way, as it happened so often in Sunnydale.

"I'll try to distract her", Buffy told her as she came to her side again, her eyes never leaving the demon, "try to sneak up on her from her left, I'll try to keep her focused on me…"

"Good luck", Willow gave back, prompting the Slayer to give her a wry smile; and then, she started yelling and raised her sword as she charged the demon, running in a zig-zag course to avoid being hit by any of the torrents of flame Pat was firing at her.

While she was doing so, Willow moved to the left, making sure to end up on her partner's blind side as she started approaching her; she had a moment to hope that none of the immortals watching the whole scene would interfere, then figured that they wouldn't – after all, getting close to Pat was just what any sane person wouldn't have done, and especially not the one she was so eager to kill.

_Please let this work, _she thought to herself, not even sure if it was a thought meant only for her or if she was asking the Goddess for help, as well; at least, Buffy's tries to distract the taller woman from her seemed to be working, Pat glaring at her now as she kept firing flame after flame at her, not hitting her once though, the Slayer managing to get out of the way each time.

Giving her best to move fast, but quietly, Willow kept approaching her lover; and finally, she was within grabbing distance, the demon noticing her just as she reached out and grasped her hand, a loud roar coming from her as she brought her other hand up for a devastating burst of fire – before the magic ran through the witch, more powerful than she ever had felt it before, bright light bursting from her hand and wrapping around her lover and her like a warm, protective cocoon, the rage almost immediately vanishing from the taller woman's face as the spell started to take effect.

* * *

"At least for once, something works out", Buffy grumbled as she watched Willow work her magic, the bright light surrounding the demon and her still; by now, all the rage was gone from Pat's face, and she had stopped roaring, just looking confused as the witch kept the magic flowing, undoing the effects the trigger and the brainwashing had had on her.

"You've got to stop her", a vaguely familiar voice said right next to her, making her jump before she twirled around, already raising her sword; raising his hands, Nathan took a step back from her, his eyes widening for a moment before he regained his composure as she recognized him and made no move to attack him.

"This kind of magic wasn't meant to be used by mere humans", he added at the questioning look Buffy was now giving him, "it'll burn her up, and she'll die! And this might set off the prophecy, it was vague enough, it could happen!"

"But if I stop her now, who knows what will happen", the Slayer argued back, even though a closer look told her that Nathan wasn't far from wrong – by now, the witch was trembling visibly and looked drained, but still she kept holding on to her lover, letting the magic do its work.

"We don't have time for this", Nathan stated, distracting her from those observations; and before she could say or do anything, he had started moving, hurrying towards the couple with fast, determined steps, ignoring the way his family members were calling out in surprise at spotting him there.

"Nathan!" the woman still looking like Willow was the first one to yell for him directly, "what are you… you treacherous little prick!"

He only acknowledged her words by briefly glancing in her direction, and a smirk Buffy didn't like at all curled his lips, one she could only describe as malevolent; her eyes went wide while she started to run, fixated on him as he pulled the knife out from underneath his jacket, ignoring her when she cried out "No!", the smirk still on his face as he reached the couple at last – and then, in one fluid movement, reached up with his free hand to grab the witch's hair and pull her head back, a wordless cry of terror escaping Buffy as he brought up the knife and effortlessly, almost casually, slit Willow's throat.


	17. Chapter 17

_0_

When the spell had started, the rage had started to retreat, the unbelievable hatred she had felt pushed aside by the magic her lover was pouring within her; and just when all the anger was gone, replaced by a sense of deep calmness and peace, hot blood splattered her face, snapping her out of the spell-induced stupor she had been in, her breath getting caught in her throat as her good eye snapped open just in time to see her love, her life go down, blood pouring from her slashed throat.

Before she even fully realized that she was moving, Pat had caught her, grasping her tightly and keeping her from falling to the ground; already as she grabbed her though, she saw that it was too late, that the cut had been too severe and too deep to give her any chance at all, the way the flow of blood was slowing down only another small confirmation for the horrid realization.

"No", the demon brought out, not even noticing how Buffy caught up to them at last and started beating on Nathan, yelling incoherently at him for what he had done, "no, no, come on, Sweetie, come on…"

Even though part of her knew that it was useless, she ignored it as she pressed one hand onto the cut, the blood hot and sticky against her palm, still trickling from the wound, running out from between her fingers despite the pressure she was applying to the slash, soon mixing with her tears as she kept clutching her partner, her mind reeling in an attempt to cope with what had happened.

"No", she said again, as if she could make it undone by just repeating that small word often enough; behind her, Nathan was scrambling to get away from a Slayer maddened with grief and rage, none of them noticing how the other immortals exchanged wary looks, then simply turned and left, the only reason for their presence taken away the moment the witch had made her last breath.

"Come on", Pat brought out again, holding her even closer, as if her body heat and the tight embrace would bring her back, "come on, Sweetie, Willow, please, you can't just…"

Buffy fell down on her knees next to her, a shell-shocked look on her face now that Nathan was out of reach and she had had a moment to let what had happened sink in; unable to bring out any words, all she could do was clutch the taller woman's shoulder, her face working as she tried to handle the sight, tried to make sense of what had happened and what had been done to her best friend.

"He said you were protected", she heard the demon say next to her, her voice cracking with a mixture of unbearable grief and anger, "he said your Goddess was protecting you! So you can't die like that, you hear me?! Come on, come back to me, please…"

She fell silent in an attempt to bite back even more tears, the anger taking over as she focused on the detail Nathan had told them about the witch's protection, her voice loud and sharp enough to startle Buffy out of her stupor when she went on, the blonde giving her a wide-eyed look, either thinking that she had lost it completely now or was just grasping at the tiniest straws she could find in an attempt to make the death of her lover undone.

"He said you were protecting her!" Pat almost shouted at no one in particular, glaring around wildly, "what kind of protection did you offer her if he could just walk up to her and cut her throat!"

"Pat", Buffy finally regained her ability to speak, her grip on the black haired woman's shoulder tightening as she tried to gain her attention, "this isn't… this isn't helping, we need to…"

"He was right", a third voice interrupted her, startling her yet again; it was one she knew, the voice she had heard speak directly in her mind not too long ago, and her eyes went wide yet again as she found herself looking at a woman where a second ago, no one had been standing, a soft glow surrounding her, her features full of pain and grief as she looked down on the murdered witch.

"I tried to protect her", she went on, her gaze moving from Willow to her lover, "but there was nothing I could do to protect her from him."

"Jesus Christ", Buffy whispered while all the demon could do was stare, still holding the redhead close, not even noticing that by now, blood was soaking her shirt to the point that it had started dripping; they had faced all sorts of creatures during their adventures together, from demons to vampires and even the Devil himself, but in all those years, they never had found themselves face to face with an actual Goddess.

"I'm sorry", Hecate told them, not acknowledging how stunned they were by her unexpected appearance, "and I wish I could have done something for her."

"…bring her back", Pat brought out tonelessly, saying the first thing which came to her mind; to her endless dismay, the Goddess just gave her a sad look in reply, then shook her head, honest grief in her voice when she replied.

"It's not that simple", she told them, her gaze moving back to Willow, the redhead's body already cooling in her lover's embrace, "even for me, it's—"

"You're a goddess!" the demon interrupted her, some of the anger coming back as she glared up at the Goddess, "if you can't do it, then who can?! Bring her back! If you wanted to protect her and if she's so important to you, bring her back!"

"Even a Goddess can't just wave her hand and make death undone", Hecate pointed out in reply, her features softening when the black haired woman let out a ragged noise in reply, fresh tears threatening to fall, her voice even hoarser than usual when she addressed her again.

"Please", she brought out, sounding as if she was on the verge of total breakdown, "please, there has to be something you can do… Something we can do, please, I'll do anything, just bring her back. Bring her back, I'll do anything, give you anything, I just want her back…"

"You are asking for a lot", the Goddess replied, at least not flat out denying her though, "even with the offer you make. A great gift demands a great sacrifice."

"I'll do anything", Pat repeated in response, now holding Hecate's gaze, "I'll give you anything. Give her back to me, please…"

As an answer, the Goddess tilted her head, as if she was listening to someone only she could hear; and then, she nodded, holding the demon's gaze as she made her offer, giving her the price she would have to pay for her lover's life, both Pat and her ignoring the gasp the Slayer let out as, without missing a beat, the black haired woman accepted, and bright light exploded all around them once more, blinding them as the Goddess fulfilled the bargain.

* * *

"_I'll try to distract her, try to sneak up on her from her left, I'll try to keep her focused on me…"_

"_At least for once, something works out."_

"_You have got to stop her…"_

_A silvery flash, right in front of her eyes, moving downwards._

_A cold sensation at her throat, followed by burning pain._

_And then darkness._

With a small gasp, Willow opened her eyes, her hand coming up to clutch at her throat; slightly belated, she realized that she was lying halfway on the street, halfway in her partner's arms, Pat holding her close and, to her amazement, crying into her hair, doing so quite openly and with sobs hard enough to make her whole body shake, as opposed to the last few times she had seen her cry, when she had been trying to hold it back and make as little noise as possible.

"What…", she croaked, noticing that her throat felt oddly sore, as if she'd just recently gotten over some sort of infection; her lover was crying so hard that at first, she couldn't even respond, and when she did say something, it made no sense at all to the witch, since she was just saying "Thank you, thank you" over and over again.

"Willow", Buffy's voice reached her ears, prompting her to turn her head slightly until her gaze found the blonde, "are you okay…?"

"I think so", the redhead gave back, getting more and more confused by the second, "what happened…?"

"We'll explain later", the Slayer let her know, not very helpful, "for now, we should get away from here, before they come back… Pat…?"

For a few more moments, the demon didn't react at all – only to make Willow squeal in surprise by then suddenly coming to her feet and, since she still was holding her tightly, lifting her up in the process, refusing to put her down even though she reassured her that she could stand.

"Let's go", she mumbled, in a voice hoarse from crying; nodding, Buffy set off to lead the way, and while her partner carried her to the car parked not too far away, Willow had time to ponder what had happened, the unsettling gap in her memory after the sudden pain in her throat not making this an easy task though.

Still, all the facts she did manage to remember only left her one conclusion; and the moment they had reached the car and had gotten into the vehicle, with Buffy taking the driver seat and Pat insisting to be on the backseat with her lover, she voiced it, feeling numb as she said the dreadful words out loud.

"I was dead, wasn't I", she mumbled, glancing at her partner by her side, the taller woman clutching her hand so tight that it almost hurt, the dried blood she could see on her fingers and the masses of it drying on the front of her own shirt only undermining her conclusion, "someone slit my throat and killed me."

"I'll explain at home", the demon replied, squeezing her hand tenderly; not wanting to push her, sensing that she still was quite close to the edge, Willow just nodded, then leaned against her, prompting her to immediately put one arm around her and hold her as close as she could without actually pulling her into her lap, the way her breath hitched in her throat another sign for how upset she still was.

Even though a million questions were burning on her tongue, Willow thus kept them to herself, just placing a calming hand on her partner's upper leg, making the taller woman smile slightly; she smiled back at her, then glanced down at herself yet again, disturbed by how much blood she could see on her shirt, asking herself how she could have survived that.

_You didn't, _she then told herself, glancing out the window deep in thought, _you died, as you figured out, and somehow, they brought you back. Was it the healing spell? But then, why didn't Pat's wounds open up again? _

Telling herself that she'd get some answers soon, she looked at her lover again, a bit alarmed by how freaked out Pat still looked; still she kept any questions to herself, the only noise in the car being the sound of the engine as Buffy drove them home with a surprisingly reasonable driving style, only speaking up once she'd reached the apartment building and had stopped the car.

"Take care", she let them know, turning in the driver's seat so she could look at them, "I'll drop by tomorrow morning, crazed power hungry family aside, I figure we can all need some rest after… what happened."

"Yes", the demon agreed, "you take care, too. See you tomorrow."

"See you", Buffy gave back, driving off the moment they both had gotten out of the car; Pat looked after her for a moment, then grasped Willow's hand as they made their way to the entrance together, the demon suddenly looking immensely tired as the tension of the last hour fell off of her, only heightening Willow's concern, the witch still keeping quiet though, knowing that she'd find out the whole and probably awful truth as soon as they'd reach their apartment.


	18. Chapter 18

"You were right", Pat spoke up half an hour later, after they both had washed off the blood, had changed into clean clothes and had gotten something to drink, the demon now standing at the window and smoking a cigarette, her gaze focused on the quiet street outside; from her place on the couch, Willow looked up at her, didn't say anything yet though, knowing that the demon would want to say more.

"You died", the taller woman did just that after half a minute had ticked by in silence, turning so their eyes met, still looking so awfully tired, but at least appearing a bit more relaxed now, "after that bastard cut your throat. You were already dead by the time I caught you."

She took in a deep breath, then another drag of her cigarette, her hand trembling just enough to let Willow notice; still she remained where she was, knowing her partner well enough by now to figure out that she needed to have her say before she could try to comfort her, the taller woman confirming this by continuing a few moments later.

"I freaked", she said matter-of-factly, "and started yelling for your Goddess, because he said she'd be protecting you. So I asked her what kind of protection she was giving you if he could just kill you so easily. And she appeared and answered me."

At hearing this, Willow gasped, not having expected this at all; smiling weakly, Pat nodded, as if to confirm that she had felt pretty much the same way, taking another drag from her cigarette before she went on.

"I asked her to bring you back", she let the redhead know, "that I'd do anything and give her anything if only she'd bring you back."

"And she did", the redhead now did speak up, her voice so low that it was almost a whisper, "she brought me back."

"Yes", Pat confirmed, running her free hand through her hair, "she did. We made a bargain, and she brought you back."

"A bargain?" Willow perked up at once at hearing that, a sudden feeling of dread coming over her – whenever she had heard or read of people making bargains with Gods, Goddesses and similar beings, it hardly ever had ended well for them, and all too often had brought chaos and mayhem into their lives.

"What kind of bargain?" she demanded to know, coming to her feet now, finding herself unable to sit still any longer, "what did you promise her?"

"She told me that a great gift demands a great sacrifice", Pat told her, putting out her cigarette in the ashtray on the windowsill before she went on, her words making Willow's heart beat faster, the feeling of dread only increasing, "and what she would need from me to bring you back."

She took in a deep breath, as if to brace herself for what she had to say next, looking as if she wanted to light up another smoke right away, but fighting down the urge; and just when the redhead wanted to rush over her and grab her to make her tell, she finally did so, making the witch feel as if she would faint on the spot. "She told me what she'd need, and I let her take it. I'm not immortal anymore."

* * *

"What?" Willow finally brought out tonelessly after just staring in silence for almost a full minute, still feeling faint, convinced that she had misheard, "you gave her what?"

"My immortality", the demon repeated, now moving closer to her, partly for concern that she really might black out any moment, not having expected such a strong reaction, "I still got all the other spiffy demon bonuses. But I'll age from now on."

In response, Willow sat down heavily on the couch, still staring at the taller woman; moving to her side, Pat sat down as well, putting one arm around her, in an attempt to console her and help her calm down, still startled a bit by how strong the witch had reacted to her revelation.

"How could you do this?" the redhead finally brought out after taking a few deep breaths, looking at her in disbelief, "you gave up your immortality to bring me back? You'd give up centuries of life for me?"

"Yes", Pat gave back without hesitation, "it was the only way, she needed it to bring you back, so I let her have it."

"But… this is…", Willow started, then fell silent again as she tried to sort her thoughts, finally managing to do so, giving her lover another look of disbelief as she went on.

"This is so… big", she finally found the right words, "you could have lived forever, for ages, centuries, I don't know, and… you gave it up for me?"

"Yes", the black haired woman repeated patiently, "I did. I had to. It was the only way to get you back."

"This is too big, too huge", the redhead fretted as an answer, now shifting on the couch nervously, "this is too much, I can't… how am I ever going to repay you for this? What if, I don't know, if things don't go so well anymore one day and we break up and you regret doing this, I'd never forgive myself if…"

"Willow", the demon interrupted her, not unkindly, "hush. You're babbling. I know what I did, I'm aware of the consequences, and I don't regret it. You don't have to repay me."

"But…", the witch started again, giving her lover a helpless look as she tried to find the right words, her normally so fast and brilliant mind at a standstill though, only allowing her to repeat yet again what she already had said, "this is… too much, this is too much to give, Pat, what if…"

"It doesn't matter", the taller woman gave back, grasping her hand and holding it tenderly, her gaze so full of warmth and love when she looked into her eyes that it made her heart clench up, "it was worth it just to have you back. I'd do it again any time. Every day, every second I get to spend with you is worth more than eternal life without you could ever be."

In response to this heartfelt confession, all Willow could do was look at her; and then, she almost threw herself into the demon's arms and clung to her, a shudder running through her as she fought to contain her emotions.

"Never doubt this", she heard Pat rumble into her ear, her warm breath caressing the sensitive skin there and sending additional shivers up and down her spine, "never doubt for a second that what I did, I did fully aware of what it would mean."

"Thank you", the witch finally brought out once she could be sure that she wouldn't burst into tears the moment she'd open her mouth, "thank you for doing this…"

"Nothing to thank me for", the demon reassured her at once, smiling at her when she pulled back from the tight embrace just far enough so she could look at her, "as I said, I'd do it again any time. That, and more, if it meant getting you back… I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."

"I need to thank the Goddess for doing this", Willow mumbled in reply, now snuggling comfortably into her lover's arms, finally coming to terms with what her lover had done, "bringing someone back from the dead, that's really big mojo. Even for a Goddess, when I did the same with Buffy, I needed the urn and everything, and she had nothing but her raw power."

"And the little help I gave her", Pat reminded her of this not unimportant fact, "but, sure, it might not hurt to thank her. Especially after I was kinda, well, rude to her. I yelled at her."

"You did?" the redhead gave back with a small giggle, "seriously?"

"Yes", the demon confirmed, sounding so absurdly proud that it made her partner giggle even harder, "I yelled at her about how she sucked at protecting you. Now, in hindsight, I suppose I was lucky she didn't fry me then and there."

"Hecate doesn't fry people", Willow corrected her, still smiling, "or demons, for that matter. But I suppose she could have turned you into a tree if you'd piss her off enough. Not that you wouldn't make a pretty tree…"

"I'd rather not try that, thank you very much", the taller woman dryly gave back, earning yet another giggle; the two beamed at each other for a few more moments, then Willow leaned in for a kiss which started out tender, but soon turned quite heated and passionate as the realization that not only had she been close to death, but actually had died, sank in, and she fully came to terms with what her lover had done for her.


	19. Chapter 19

Quite some time later, after they somehow had managed to the bedroom and on the bed there, and falling asleep in exhaustion after properly celebrating the fact that Willow hadn't remained dead after her untimely demise, the witch awoke with a start, momentarily disoriented as she didn't know what had torn her out of her slumber; then, she noticed the soft, dulled glow from her left and glanced over, only to be forced to stifle a shriek a second later as she found herself looking at a vaguely familiar woman standing next to her side of the bed, looking down at her with a hint of amusement shining from her eyes.

"Finally", the Goddess said, with a slightly teasing tone which surprised the redhead, not having expected to hear it from a being as powerful and old and wise as Hecate, "I thought I'd need to start yelling."

"Um", Willow gave back, not all too intelligent, but at a loss for words – she had prayed to the Goddess a million times by now, and so often had felt her aid and protection whenever she had used her magic, but she never would have expected her to end up standing in her bedroom in the middle of the night. Smiling gently, Hecate clearly didn't mind her lack of response, tilting her head slightly as her gaze moved from the witch to the still deeply slumbering Pat, the amusement still there when she spoke up again.

"And obviously, your girlfriend has an ever deeper sleep than you do", she observed, smiling, "which might be lucky though, or she might yell at me again for just manifesting in your bedroom out of nowhere."

"She wouldn't", Willow gave back at once, "actually, she's sorry for yelling at you back… there. Where you saved me. Thank you for that, I literally owe you my life…"

She forced herself to shut up before she could go into babble mode, telling herself that it would be rather embarrassing to babble at a Goddess; then, she realized that said Goddess was in her bedroom, where she laid buck naked after a rather steamy night with her partner, and figured that things couldn't get much more embarrassing, hastily pulling the blanket up to her neck and prompting Hecate to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

"It wasn't just me", the Goddess then told her, glancing at her lover again, "what she gave… what she was willing to give… helped a lot. To be perfectly honest with you, even though I knew of her remarkable devotion to you, I wasn't sure she'd accept the bargain, but she agreed without hesitating a second."

"I found that hard to believe, as well", Willow mumbled in response, briefly grimacing as she thought of how much learning what Pat had given up to bring her back had freaked her out, "and I still fear she will regret it someday."

"Only time will tell", Hecate gave back, not all too helpful, "but this is not the reason why I am here."

Glad that the Goddess had said this, since it spared her having to ask herself, Willow just nodded in response; by now, her brain had woken up enough from the sleep- and sex-induced stupor to let her realize that surely, Hecate hadn't visited her in their bedroom in the middle of the night just to chat and make remarks about the sacrifice Pat had made for her.

"I came here to warn you", Hecate went on, now growing serious, "the threat is far from over. Now that you actually died, you should be safe from fulfilling their prophecy, and the… trigger they built into your partner's mind should be useless, as well, but they are still out there. And they want you dead."

"No surprise there", Willow mumbled, "a lot of people and demons wanted that ever since I started helping Buffy with her duty. But if they really can't turn Pat against us anymore, she'll make short work of them, she never took kindly to anyone harming me, and someone actually killing me, well…"

"I imagine that man won't be in one piece much longer", Hecate pondered, "I have to say, I had my doubts when you began this relationship, but when we saw the first time how far she was willing to go to protect you, nearly getting herself killed in the process, well… There wasn't much any of us could say against her anymore."

"Huh", was all the witch could come up with in response to that, not sure what to think about the Goddess' words; Hecate gave her another smile, then grew serious again as she looked into the distance, her warm green eyes glazing over momentarily before she focused on the redhead again.

"They're coming", she told her, startling her quite a bit, "eager for your blood. Wake your love and get ready to fight."

"Oh wow", Willow brought out, slightly stunned again, not having expected that the immortals were on their way now to kill them both, somehow having been convinced that her friends and she would take the fight to them again, "um, okay, I'll wake her up, oh she'll be pissed, she really doesn't like people attacking us here in our home…"

"I imagine she won't be too happy", Hecate nodded, smiling slightly again, "but she'll thank me in the long run. Take care, my child."

She turned to leave, then stopped as if she had remembered something else of vital importance; glancing back at the witch again, she gave her a moment to see the mischief twinkle in her eyes, then spoke up again, her words prompting Willow to cover her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, and tell your friend I'm not Jesus, I don't do the whole walking-on-water-thing. I hear he's a nice fella though."

"…I'll tell her", the redhead gave back after a moment of stunned silence; Hecate gave her another smile, then raised her hand in a gesture of farewell – before she vanished into thin air, giving Willow just a moment to ponder if the whole turning-away had been just a ruse for her to drop her line about how she wasn't Jesus, the witch asking herself if her Goddess actually had that kind of sense of humour.

Then, she remembered that there were more important matters at hand right now, and quickly rolled over to wake up her partner; and just as she finally had succeeded and Pat, with some difficulty, forced her good eye open, the apartment door was broken down and the immortals forced their way into their home, eager for the final confrontation.

* * *

The first one to make his way through the door and into the bedroom was the fastest and easiest kill; he had a second to realize that a glowing red eye was staring at him from the darkness, then the axe was swung and cut through his neck in a cold, glittering arc of silver steel, his face still showing a hint of surprise when his head hit the carpet and rolled a few paces, his body remaining upright for a few more seconds longer before it realized that it was dead and fell, as well.

"They're awake!" the woman who had been moving right behind him still had time to cry out, then the axe came down again and was buried deep in her skull; she let out a gurgle, the noise mixing with the growl Pat was letting out as she couldn't get the axe back out fast enough, having brought it down with so much force that now, it was stuck deep in the woman's skull and just wouldn't come free again.

Giving it up as a lost cause, she stepped back, effectively having decimated their attackers from six to four within the span of just a few seconds; the four still standing raised the weapons they had brought, but clearly their initial will to fight had been lessened, caused by the fact that they had expected a peacefully sleeping couple they just could have cut down and instead now found themselves facing an enraged, shaggy and bulky demon and a witch floating a few inches above the floor, a soft breeze blowing her hair back from her face even though all the windows were closed.

"You shouldn't have come here", Willow told them, raising her hands while her partner let out an agreeing growl, causing them to wonder if the demon actually wasn't capable of speech in that demonic form of hers; and then, the magic hit them and they screamed in pain as blue fire ran all over their bodies, destroying at first their clothes, then the skin, flesh and muscle beneath, until bones started to show.

They were all so preoccupied with the pain and the terror that they all missed the brief look Willow gave her partner; the spell she was using was powerful magic, and even though she could feel Hecate aiding her and powering her, she knew what would happen sooner or later if she kept it up, the dark magic within her already stirring, demanding to be unleashed.

Getting the hint, Pat moved in again, the blue fire not touching her as she picked up the second weapon she had readied just before demoning out, and just before they had opened the bedroom door; it wasn't an axe, the weapon she favoured, but a sword, and even though she would have preferred to have the axe she initially had used, the sword did the job well enough, slicing off four more heads in quick succession, the screams stopping the moment the last neck was cut through, the spell rendering them helpless to her attack.

"That was quick", the demon commented as soon as the last body had hit the floor, lowering the sword and wiping the blood off on the vest of the nearest dead man, "but those stains will never come out. Time for a new carpet."

"Again", Willow added, lowering herself down onto the carpet again; the levitating was impressive, she knew, but it took a lot of power, dark rings beneath her eyes now as the effect of the floating and the fire spell took their toll on her.

"You better sit down", Pat advised after taking a single look at her, seeing at once how drained she was; to her dismay, the witch shook her head, then shrugged out of the bathrobe she had put on just before they had entered, not having the advantage of concealing fur her lover had used, moving over to the wardrobe already as she replied.

"There's time to rest once we took care of them", she let her lover know, opening said wardrobe and grabbing the first items of clothing she could get her hands on, "first, we have to take care of the rest, before they realize their little stealth kill mission didn't go so well and the whole group is dead."

"A good point", the taller woman had to admit, changing back to the form Willow usually called "more pleasing to the eye", "but no more magic for you then unless there's really no other way, alright? I just got you back, I'm not gonna stand by and watch you overdo it and put yourself at risk."

"No magic unless I have to", Willow reassured her, the thought of getting dressed forgotten as her partner now stood there fully naked again, all the fur gone; smiling slightly, she moved over to her and embraced her, a shiver running through her when immediately, strong arms were wrapped around her and she was pulled closer, feeling her lover's heated skin against her own.

"We better stop that", the demon rumbled, "or you know what'll happen. Then I won't be able to focus on the fight."

"No getting distracted", the redhead scolded in reply, pulling back from the embrace nonetheless and moving to pick up the clothes she so hurriedly had discarded a minute ago, "now that you just gave up your immortality to save me, it'd be awful if you'd killed because your concentration slipped."

"Indeed", Pat agreed with a grimace; figuring that her lover was right and they had to take care of the remaining immortals quickly, she pushed any thoughts of being close to her and intimate with her aside as she moved to the wardrobe as well, quickly finding a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her choice for upper body wear prompting the witch to raise an eyebrow.

"Slayer?" she then wanted to know, a hint of amusement in her voice, "seriously?"

"What?" the taller woman smirked in reply, pulling said shirt over her head after having put on some underwear, "they're a good band. And there's already bloodstains on it, albeit fake ones, so no one will notice if a few more will be added during battle."

"That does make sense", Willow admitted with a slight laugh, "in a weird, creepy kind of way."

"Demon", Pat reminded her of her very nature in response while she pulled on her pants, smirking, "I get to be weird and creepy. Ready to go?"

"Ready", the redhead confirmed, "just let me call Buffy and tell her to meet us there and then we can go."

Nodding, the demon lit up a cigarette while the witch got her phone from the nightstand and called her best friend; Buffy sounded quite tired and confused when she took the call, but by the time Willow had finished explaining what had happened, she was wide awake and alert, promising to meet them at the mansion, the couple leaving the apartment a minute after the call had ended to put an end to this threat once and for all.


	20. Chapter 20

Just as the last time they had been at the mansion, no guards had been put up, and the building was dark and quiet; this time though, no one was expecting them, no lights flaring up in the windows and the door remaining closed.

"At least this time, it's not a trap", Buffy whispered as they moved to the door as quietly as possible; Willow had offered to use her spell to muffle their footsteps, but Pat had told her no in a rather strict voice, reminding her of what she had promised, now using centuries of experience to move practically soundlessly, prompting the witch to feel as if she was the noisy equivalent to an elephant, even though she moved rather quietly, as well.

"Let me take care of the lock", the demon mumbled, moving past Buffy and to the door; even though she often tended to open doors rather violently, she was quite skilled at lock picking, as well, something she demonstrated by removing a lock pick from the inner pocket of her jacket and, after half a minute of moving it around in the lock with a look of high concentration on her face, had the door unlocked, glad to see that it swung open soundlessly.

"Let's check the bedrooms first", Buffy suggested, glancing around as if she expected one or more of them to jump out at them any second, "perhaps we're lucky for once and they think their little hit team is doing their job well."

"Would be nice for a change", Pat agreed, already moving to the nearest door; and as they searched the mansion as quietly as possible, it turned out that they indeed were lucky this time, finding four more of the immortals fast asleep in their beds, killing them without even giving them the chance to wake up, sword and axe taking off their heads effortlessly and without making much sound.

"Three left", Pat mumbled as they stepped out of the last bedroom and into the hallway, "Nathan, the bitch who tortured me, and one more. Unless they all changed their looks and we already killed them."

"Could be", Buffy gave back, "but where are those three then? Out there somewhere? I don't like that thought, I want them taken care of, who knows what they might do in other towns if we just let them escape."

Just as Willow opened her mouth to reply, a low clatter could be heard from a room nearby; they all froze, then the Slayer whispered "kitchen", demonstrating that she still knew the mansion remarkably well even though she hadn't been there for years, sneaking to the door leading to said room moments later, the witch and the demon following closer behind her.

As carefully as possible, Buffy pushed the door open, relieved to see that it had been fully closed, but ajar, swinging open just as soundlessly as the other doors in the mansion had opened; and moments later, she raised an eyebrow, the taller woman behind her doing the same as she peered over her head and they both spotted the teenaged looking guy standing at the fridge, with his back to them, in the middle of what seemed to be the preparation of the biggest sandwich they had ever seen.

For another moment, they just stood and stared, then Buffy shook her head and moved in; she brought up her sword as she approached him, but before she could get close enough to land the killing blow, a floorboard creaked beneath her right foot, her eyes going wide exactly the same second the man dropped the jar of pickles he'd been holding and spun around, his eyes widening as well when his gaze fell on the three women standing only meters away from him.

He opened his mouth to call out an alarm, but before he could do so, Buffy had rushed at him, driving her sword through his gut and forcing him backwards, against the fridge; he let out a wet cough, blood splattering from his mouth, and then Pat was there, swinging her axe and decapitating him as effortlessly as she had dealt with the other two she had killed, letting out the breath she had been holding only when he fell to the floor, dead.

"That was close", Buffy whispered, glancing around nervously, "now let's go and find the remaining two and get out of here."

Nodding their agreement, Pat and Willow turned to leave the room with her; they made their way back out into the hallway, then stopped there, not sure where to go now, glancing around as they tried to figure it out – before the demon's gaze fell on the door leading to the cellar and she swallowed, suddenly remembering what she had heard seconds before Willow's blood had sprayed into her face.

"Guys", she whispered, making the other two look at her, "I think I know where we'll find Nathan and our friend with a penchant for torture."

She gestured at the cellar door, prompting Willow to place a calming hand on her arm; and after a moment of thinking about this, Buffy nodded, then moved over to the door and pushed it open, Nathan's screams reaching their ears moments later and telling them that the black haired woman's instinct had been spot on.

* * *

They found him in the same room where they had tortured Pat days ago, and he was chained to the same construct, with the woman standing in front of him and using the scalpel on him she seemed to enjoy so much; at the sight of the metal construction, the demon's steps faltered, just long enough to let Willow notice, the witch briefly, but reassuringly, touching her back, pulling back her hand just in time as the woman noticed their entrance and turned to look at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you look at that", she said, not sounding all too worried, almost casually cleaning her bloodied hands on the front of her shirt, "please tell me you're not here to rescue him. Or did you already forget how he slit your throat?"

"We're here to get rid of you", Buffy gave back, raising her sword for emphasis, "the two of you, you're the last ones. We killed the rest."

"A pity", the woman gave back, still with that infuriatingly calm tone, "but it doesn't matter. Once I dealt with the three of you, I'll just add to the ranks again."

She smiled, her gaze focusing on Pat, and it took almost all of the taller woman's willpower so she wouldn't step back; still the woman noticed her reaction, her smile widening slightly – before she whispered "Set the world on fire", both Buffy and Willow tensing as they waited to see if Hecate had been right and the trigger really didn't work anymore – or if Pat would go homicidal on them again.

For a few seconds, nobody moved a muscle, all just standing tense and still; and then, the woman's smile vanished and she frowned, raising her voice as she repeated the words, for the first time looking not fully confident when again, nothing happened.

"Tough luck, bitch", Pat snarled, her grip on her axe tightening, "your little trigger trick isn't working anymore."

And then, before anyone else could make a move, she was charging at the woman, raising the weapon high; with a curse, the immortal fell back, bringing up her hand and closing her fingers on thin air, only to have a sword made of purple and blue light appear in her hand, the weapon turning out to be solid enough though as it clanged with the demon's axe.

Mercilessly, Pat kept attacking, only giving her time and room to defend herself, but not to strike back; their weapons clashed again and again, sparks flying whenever the cold steel met the magical blade, the black haired woman for once not letting out growls and snarls as she fought, but doing so in an eerie, almost complete silence, the only noises she was making being her slightly faster than usual breathing.

In a stark contrast, the woman was quite vocal about her fighting, letting out grunts and groans as she battled; clearly, she was excelling at using magic, but actual combat wasn't one of her best developed skills, her movements already slowing, making her parries sloppy and careless – until the axe whirled past her blade for the first time and bit deep into her arm, a cry coming from her as she involuntarily let go of the sword, the weapon vanishing into thin air the moment her fingers weren't touching it any longer.

Still, she obviously wasn't willing to give up so fast; her eyes narrowed as she dodged another swing of the axe, then moved back a few steps to get out of harm's way for a few seconds; immediately, the demon moved after her, but before she could attack again, a bright ball of energy hit her in the chest and sent her backwards, a grunt coming from her now as she hit the wall hard, stars exploding in front of her eye.

"Much better", the immortal snarled, conjuring up the sword again; from the corner of her eye, she saw that Willow was moving, but before she could even look into the direction, the redhead had raised both hands and snapped "Thicken!", a startled cry coming from the woman when all at once, she found herself encased in impenetrable air, unable to move an inch.

"Finish her", the redhead pressed out between grit teeth, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the spell, "quickly!"

Nodding, not needing to be told twice, Buffy strode up to the captured immortal, giving her just enough time to see the cold look in her eyes as she raised her sword; the woman still had a moment to cry out, then the blade came down and severed her head from her neck, the spell puffing away the moment she had died and her corpse falling to the ground while Willow rushed to her lover's side to make sure that she was alright, the most imminent threat gone with the woman's death.


	21. Chapter 21

"So", Willow stated as soon as she had reassured herself that Pat was fine and the demon had come to her feet again, focusing on the chained up and injured Nathan now, "that makes you the last of the bunch."

"How are you still alive?" Nathan wanted to know in reply, perhaps not the smartest thing he could have asked, but a question he clearly hadn't been able to hold back; for a moment, the witch's face darkened, then she smiled at him, grasping her lover's hand again as she replied.

"I'm not still alive", she let him know, noticing how he swallowed heavily, "but alive _again._ Thanks to my Goddess and the devotion of my lover."

"So it all worked out, eh", he gave back, sounding just a tad nervous, "and you can just let me go, can't you. It was nothing personal, I swear, I just… didn't want her to have all that power, and that was the only way."

"Yes, it all worked out", Pat was the one to answer that, making him look at her, "because I gave up my immortality so she could be brought back. And don't give us any crap about how killing Willow was the only way, there is always more than one way."

"Come on", Nathan replied, shifting in his chains slightly, "you guys are the good guys. You don't murder people in cold blood."

"Buffy and I don't", the witch corrected him while next to her, Pat started to smile, the kind of smile which only could be described as malicious, "but my girlfriend here has been doing just that for a living for the past two hundred years. Sweetie?"

"My pleasure", the demon gave back, raising the axe as she moved closer to the construct; crying out, Nathan pulled violently at his chains, sounding frantic when he spoke up again, nearly swallowing his own tongue in an attempt to make them stop her.

"Please, no!" he cried, the taller woman advancing slowly, but steadily, "please! I stopped her from taking all that power, I helped to save you all from her rise to power and enslavement of humanity! Isn't that worth something?!"

"It would have been if you had done it for that reason", Pat let him know, hefting the axe as she studied his neck, as if she still had to ponder where to hit for the best and fastest effect, "but you didn't. You just played your games, like the rest of your family."

His eyes went wide in response as he realized that they had seen through him and his motivations; and then, the axe was brought up and swung in a deadly arc, and moments later, his head hit the floor and his eyes saw no more, lifelessly gazing up at the ceiling while the three women turned away and walked off, none of them even looking back once.

* * *

"Now we can add 'power hungry family of immortals' to our list of creatures we defeated", Buffy smirked as they left the mansion together, "let's just hope he told the truth about how many of them there were and there aren't any others out there."

"We'll deal with them if there are", Pat shrugged, any discomfort she might have been feeling about being back in the room where she'd been tortured obviously gone, "as we always do. We're awesome like that."

"And so modest", Willow giggled, making the taller woman smirk before she shrugged yet again; the couple smiled at each other, then stopped to exchange a brief, but tender kiss, Buffy politely looking the other way as they did so, only focusing on them again once they had pulled apart again.

"So", she cautiously started, "Will, I take it you know by now what your girl here did to bring you back."

"Yes", the witch confirmed, smiling up at the demon for a moment before she spoke on, "and at first I freaked, I thought it's too big, too much to give. I still do, but I know I wouldn't be alive without her, so I can't complain."

"Also, it solves the problem of her aging and me staying my youthful self forever", Pat added, "no one noticed so far, but it would have become an issue sooner or later."

"And you don't mind?" Buffy wanted to know, slightly sceptical – she was glad and grateful that the demon had given her eternal life to bring Willow back from the dead, but still she knew that it had been an enormous gift to give, now worried that Pat might have second thoughts once the fact that from now on, she would age and die like a regular person would sink in.

"I don't", Pat confirmed, yet again without hesitation, "it was worth it just to have her back."

"Quite romantic", Buffy smiled, deciding to just accept the demon's words for now, figuring they'd notice, should the taller woman really change her mind, "come on, if someone had told you all of this would happen before you met Willow, you'd have called them insane."

"Indeed", the black haired woman replied with a slight chuckle, "but, well, what can I say… Willow's my life, and I'd do that and more for her. Again and again."

"So sweet", Willow smiled in reply, then pulled the demon down for yet another kiss; and when they pulled apart again, she whispered "I love you" to her, just loud enough for her to hear, the taller woman's response equally soft as she reassured her of her love for her, as well.

They smiled at each other for another moment, then continued walking; for a while, there was silence, then the redhead spoke up again, a glint of her mischief in her green eyes now as she looked at Buffy, her words prompting the blonde to give her a look of mortified embarrassment in response. "Oh, and Buffy? Hecate asked me to tell you that she's not Jesus. She doesn't do the whole walking on water thing, but she hears he's a nice fellow."

"Oh God", Buffy just brought in reply, making Pat nudge her slightly as she smirked, amusement in her voice when she added her two cents. "How inappropriate. Again."

This time, the Slayer couldn't even say anything, but just blushed a fierce shade of red; and after a few moments, they all started giggling and chuckling, the tension of the last few days falling off of them as yet another threat had been taken care of and the town was safe yet again, the group victorious once more despite the high price they all had been forced to pay.

End.


End file.
